Deep Inside
by EricaX
Summary: PleakleyxJumba. Pleakley doesn't know how to say what he feels to Jumba without being hurt or rejected. But now that he's told him, he doesn't know what to do.....Lame summary.
1. Chapter 1

Deep Inside

The sun was slowly setting far off in the distance as the day was slowly coming to an end. Inside the Pelekai residence, things were surprisingly quiet. The house was clean after a long day of cleaning from the occupants of the house. Of course, it was only several days ago that it had been a wreck as everyone was trying to get ready for what was to be the largest lie and stunt the family had ever pulled off after the arrival of unexpected relatives.

This family consisted of five. Lilo, a little Hawaiian girl with long dark hair who never seemed to fit in anywhere. Nani, her older sister and guardian, since their parents had passed away. The two girls were the only two living in the house until one night, they had both seen what they thought was a shooting star, and their lives had never been the same. That shooting star had actually been a spaceship, which had contained alien experiment 626 in it. The next day, without realizing it, Lilo adopted him as her puppy and named him Stitch. The rest was known as history.

A large purple, four-eyed alien by the name of Dr. Jumba Jookiba, evil genius; as he wished to be called, was sent down to capture his experiment after it had gotten away. But not without the aid and supervision of Agent Wendy Pleakley, who was a light green, three legged alien with one eye. These three aliens came into the lives of Lilo and Nani and completely turned it upside down.

Now, it was eight months after the grand councilwoman, who had sent them originally to capture 626, had assigned them to now collect all the rest of the 625 experiments created by Jumba. The Pelekai house, which in that time, had been burned down and rebuilt, was now the home of a very strange o'hana.

One of the members of this strange o'hana was currently sitting down in the couch after a long day of cleaning. A thin arm covering his large eye, Pleakley sighed, letting the duster that was in his hand fall to the floor with a thump. He was wearing his favorite lounge dress, which he wore around the house. It was orange with white flower prints on it.

He had done it again. He had cleaned the entire house again. What was strange was that when he got into these moods, he didn't even realize he was doing it until he was done, tired, exhausted to the point where he collapsed on the couch, just as he had a moment ago. The house had not really needed cleaned to begin with, save for Lilo's room, which always needed it and the area outside Jumba's lab, which seemed to spread its messiness from inside to the outside. That was the one place inside the house he never cleaned. Simply because he wasn't allowed to. The last time Pleakley had stepped in to clean the room, Jumba had thrown a fit and taken the smaller alien by the arm and thrown him out the door. Pleakley could remember looking down at his arm a week after the incident and still be able to see the large hand shaped bruise that had formed there. It didn't take much to make him bruise.

He also remembered how depressed he had been for a whole three days after that. It did not occur to him at the time why he had been so depressed, but he knew now. Yes, he knew. But no one could ever know.

Sighing again, Pleakley did not even move or get up when the front door opened. Nani walked in with several bags of groceries. She saw Pleakley lying on the couch and gave a small side smile. "Clean all day again?" she asked kindly.

Pleakley lifted a weak hand. "You could say that…." he mumbled. His hand felt back down.

"Ay, ay, ay, Pleakley. I know I said I liked having the house clean, but you don't have to kill yourself doing it!" replied Nani, her voice still light and friendly as she started to the kitchen to put the groceries away.

Pleakley didn't respond to this, he just continued to lay there. Once Nani was done putting everything away, she looked back over to see her friend still lying there in the same position. "Hey, is everything alright?"

Pleakley nodded. It was then that he had the sudden urge to stand up and smile brightly at herm to let her know she was, even if he really wasn't. Well, he didn't stand, but he did sit up and give her a lopsided grin. "Oohhh, yes, I'm alright! You don't have to worry about me! No siree!"

Nani eyed him for a moment before heading back into the kitchen. She called back over her shoulder, "You know, I am going out this evening, right? You sure you and Jumba can handle Lilo and Stitch?"

Pleakley finally stood up, knowing he must anyways, and walked into the kitchen as well. He glanced around at his handiwork, finally feeling somewhat better. "But of course we can take care of them! I mean…It's not like they're crafty little kids who will do anything to get away with…..stuff…" his voice deflated as he realized what it was he was saying. He gave a nervous chuckle. Nani shook her head, getting out the milk and pouring herself a glass. Just as she was about to put it back, Stitch walked into the kitchen, his eyes half open and looking as though he'd just woke up. He snatched the milk carton from her hand, opened the cap and opened his mouth, brining the milk carton upside down as the milk fell into his mouth.

"Stitch!!" whined Nani, frowning at him. The little blue ball of energy didn't seem effected by this however, as he stopped drinking, put the lid back on and placed it back into the fridge. "Oi….Stitch, have you seen Lilo?"

"Naga. Alla qui esta" was the reply she got.

"What did you say?"

"He said, No. Just woke up from a nap. And I'm right here" came the voice of Lilo. She walked up to her older sister, her camera in her hands. "Nani, you're going out tonight right? Would you be able to stop and get some of these pictures developed? It's all full and I'll need to be taking more pictures this weekend."

Nani took the camera form her little sister, regarding it carefully. "Okay," she held out her hand, as though waiting for something.

"What?"

"You expect me to just buy them for you?"

"You expect me to pay for them? I don't have a job, I'm just a little kid!" cried out Lilo, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. Pleakley sat down as the two sisters continued to negotiate. His mind wasn't able to focus on anything at the moment. This was bad. For he knew if he let his mind wonder, he would think of…

No. He couldn't think of that. Pleakley shook his head. Cleaning the house had been one way to keep his mind off of…

But now all the cleaning was finished, he had nothing else to do but think of…

Jumba walked in through the front door, having locked himself up inside the spaceship earlier that morning. He was wearing his lab coat and some rubber gloves, which he was in the midst of taking off.

"Ah, I was not expecting older sister to still be here. I was understanding that you were leaving" commented the four eyed alien as he attempted to take off his lab coat. Underneath he was wearing his yellow and red hula shirt.

"Ah, you are right Jumba" she told him. "Just not yet. I just got back from the grocery store. The line there was so long! Anyways, I should be leaving here shortly." She stopped, turning to face the large purple alien. Jumba looked at her, his four eyes all wide and innocent looking. "I'm expecting you to keep it quiet around here, okay? Get them to bed at a decent time, you hear?"

"I is hearing, Nani. Decent time, yes. We shall get them into bed at a decent time" repeated Jumba with a nod, twiddling his large fingers in front of him. Nani then sighed as she went up the stairs.

Taking his lab coat and his gloves, Jumba began to head for his lab. As he went, he walked past Pleakley who sighed as he walked by. "Ahhh, Jumba!! What are you doing?" he exclaimed, moving quickly to catch up with him. He was now beside Jumba as they walked closer to his lab. Jumba gave a him a funny look as he moved his head to look at him. "I am taking lab coat and gloves into lab" he said simply. "Why must you know?"

Pleakley flinched at this question, not knowing why he even asked it. "Oh, no reason…I was just…just…." Jumba had stopped walking at this point and so had Pleakley. As the one eyed alien stuttered to find an answer, looking at the floor anxiously, Jumba spoke quietly, "You are acting funny. More funny than usual."

Pleakley blinked at this. "I am not!"

"Yes, you are" argued Jumba, heading once again towards his lab. He walked up the few stairs that led up to the single door and twisted the door knob and opened the door, walking inside. "My little one eyed friend is always acting strange. I do not understand why." With that, he shut the door on Pleakley, who just gaped after him.

"I act strange?" whispered Pleakley. Lilo, who was walking past with Stitch behind her, nodded, obviously having heard him. "Yeah, but that's nothing to be worried about. If you weren't acting strange, then we'd worry." Then the two of them were gone and Pleakley was left to wonder what had just taken place.

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The monster on the television screen was hollering and screaming as the hero of the film took its sword and hit it in the chest. Stitch watched with wide eyes, enjoying the gory look of pain the monster was currently showing, not to mention all the chaos it was showing. Lilo, Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley were currently sitting on the blue couch, watching another monster movie. Pleakley was sitting next to Lilo, who was sitting beside Stitch. Jumba was on the other side of the couch, watching the television with bored eyes. Pleakley was acutely aware of the fact that he wasn't even watching the movie. Instead, his eye was constantly going back to glancing over at Jumba, who looked so bored he could almost fall asleep. Though he was bored, Pleakley knew Jumba loved sitting there with Lilo and Stitch, watching television. He loved them both dearly and wished to take care of them and make them happy, even at a little bit of his expense.

Pleakley's eye was looking at Jumba, scanning over his large strong arms and large build. How he wished he could sit on Jumba's lap, sit back in between those strong arms and onto his chest, feeling perfectly at ease. He would be protected by the one he loved. Pleakley looked away. There no chance of that ever happening.

"Pleakley, your face is all red" came Lilo's innocent voice. Pleakley looked down to see Lilo looking up at him. He blinked. He then turned an even darker shade of red as he saw that he now had everyone's attention. He glanced at the television to see that it was a commercial. That would explain why Lilo had noticed him blushing. Shaking his head a bit, Pleakley shrugged. "Oh, no…I'm not blushing! I am just…a bit hot. I think it is kind of warm in here is all!!" his voice was higher than usual, not to mention skittish with nerves. He went to pull on his collar out of nervousness, only to remember he didn't have one, for he was still wearing his orange dress. He gulped.

No one could know. No one. If they found out about how he was thinking of Jumba, they would never understand him. Not only that, but it would probably disgust them all of them, particularly Jumba.

"Temperature in room is not what is bothering you. It is a cool night. No heat or warmth to make you too warm" pointed out Jumba matter-of-factly.

Pleakley nodded. "Yes, you're right. Look, the movie is back on. Let's just continue watching the movie!" he insisted, seeing that it was indeed back on. This seemed to take the spotlight off of him, to his utter relief. He didn't wait for the next commercial though, where he knew the issue would be pressed further by one of them. He stood up and walked into the kitchen, where he had a glass of water. He hadn't taken three sips from it when his stomach began to twist and turn. He couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if they found out. If anyone found out how he was deep down inside, they would all hate him.

It wasn't just for any old reason that he loved to dress up in women's clothing and put on wigs and make-up. He had been that way ever since he could remember. His family had never understood him and that was why he knew he could never let his new family, his ohana, find out.

"I'm going to bed!" he rang out to the others as he walked up towards the stairs.

"You go to bed already? It is not late" asked a surprised Jumba, looking back at his friend, who was at the doorway to the living room.

"I know" snapped Pleakley defensively. "But I worked hard today. I did nothing but cleaning and you know that tires me out!"

"Then at least stay with me and help me get these two in bed when movie is over. If you are tired, you can sit here with me. I hear I make good pillow" rationed Jumba with a shrug. Pleakley felt himself freeze up at these words, his face going completely hot.

"You want me to sit with you?" he whispered, his eye wide.

Jumba didn't seem to realize the shock his friend was having from this. "That is what I said. Come now. I am not asking much. Unless you wish to go to bed, do so. Just means kids will get to bed later."

Pleakley nodded, knowing this was true. Jumba was known for losing track of the time and letting Lilo and Stitch stay up far later than they were supposed to, much to Nani's displeasure.

"A-Alright" squeaked Pleakley. "But only because you said so!!" He pointed at Jumba, who was just watching him curiously.

"Yes. Of course. Now, come. Sit."

Pleakley did as he was told and went to the front of the couch, where he tentatively sat down on Jumba's large lap. He shivered with pleasure as Jumba moved his arm around his shoulder and he leaned back into it. Pleakley closed his eye, soaking in the moment. He couldn't remember how many times he had wished he could be this close to Jumba. To lean up against him. He could feel Jumba's chest move up and down as he breathed, watching the television once again. Pleakley's mind wasn't focused on the television, only the fact that he was sitting in Jumba's lap, which he found to be very comfortable.

He sighed contentedly, snuggling closer to the larger alien's warmth. Sadly, the moment didn't last long enough for poor Pleakley. The movie did eventually end, all too quickly, which meant it was time to get up off the couch and start the fight of getting Lilo and Stitch to bed. After chasing Stitch around the house three times, Jumba was finally able to come back down the stairs and say, "They are finally in bed. It was not easy.." He looked at Pleakley, who was just standing there, staring at the couch, the blessed spot the moment of happiness had just taken place. His one hand was over his chest as he watched it unblinkingly.

A large purple hand flashed in front of his vision, bringing the one eyed alien back to reality. "Oh!" he cried out, looking at Jumba.

"You sure you are alright? You have been acting strange all night" he began.

"I was told that's normal for me!" piped up Pleakley with a small glare.

"That is true. But you have been acting more strange, even for yourself" retaliated the larger alien. When he didn't get a reply right away, Jumba shrugged, and started heading up the stairs. Pleakley watched him go, suddenly feeling the greatest need to touch him, to be held once again by those large strong arms. Pleakley shivered harshly, wrapping his arms around him. He needed to stop this. If he didn't, he was going to start getting sick. His kind were known for getting sick if they built up too many emotions.

He shook his head, not wanting to think about it. He followed Jumba up the stairs and into their shared room. As he walked in, Jumna was taking off his shirt and replacing it with his night shirt. The little alien gave out a cry. "Ahhhh!"

Jumba looked over at him as though was crazy. His night shirt half on. "What?"

Pleakley did his best to quickly compose himself, also trying to think of a good alibi. "I--I saw a spider."

Jumba shrugged. "Spiders are not scary. At least not on this planet." Now fully changed into his nightclothes, he climbed up into his bed on the top bunk. Once he was settled, he looked down at Pleakley. "Aren't you coming to bed? I was understanding you were tired."

Pleakley nodded, his three legs feeling numb as he moved to his bed, grabbing his own nightclothes as he did and changing. He fell back into the pillow beneath his head, watching the bed above him shift under Jumba's weight. He never would understand why Jumba was on the top bunk. Frankly, it didn't make much sense.

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	2. Chapter 2

Deep Inside

Chapter 2

Tentatively, he tried his best not to make any noise. Thankfully, the door didn't squeak, or make any noise when it was opened, otherwise he would have to run and hide the moment he tried opening it. He thanked his lucky galaxies that it was a silent door and peeked inside.

Jumba had holed himself up inside his lab, which was downstairs. He technically had two labs. One was upstairs in the room he and Jumba shared, and the other, larger, lab was downstairs in an empty room which Nani had never found a use for since it was just her and Lilo. At least before their alien 'relatives' arrived.

Well, Jumba was currently in his larger lab, having been in a bad mood all morning. He had walked into the kitchen earlier that morning, not even bothering to say hello to Lilo or Nani, let alone Pleakley or Stitch. Stitch had just growled at him for his bad mood, which was ignored by the large alien. Nani hadn't pressed the matter. She usually didn't. Pleakley just assumed the older girl was still slightly afraid of Jumba's nasty temper and size, wishing to give him no reason to be angry at her. Lilo hadn't even noticed for she had been too busy getting ready to go to school. But Pleakley had noticed. Yes, he had noticed.

There had once been a time when he had been terrified of Jumba. He would never forget the first time he had laid his eye on Jumba, standing there in his cell at the Galactic jailhouse. Furious at the time, Jumba had torn up the newspaper which had called him an "Idiot Scientist" and was tearing it to shreds, even eating it just for good measure. Trembling, Pleakley had walked in behind the Grand Councilwoman and watched the evil genius with a scared eye.

He would never forget the first spoken words Jumba had said to him. "So, tell me, my little one-eyed one… on what poor, pitiful, defenseless planet has my "monstrosity" been unleashed?"

It had taken him several long moments to recover, but Pleakley had told him that 626 had landed on Earth, never dreaming that it would be their future home and paradise.

Now though, back in the present, Pleakley wasn't nearly as scared of Jumba as he used to be, if at all. He could say he wasn't, be then he knew that wouldn't be true. Jumba still had his nasty, furious moments which still scared the little alien greatly. Today just happened to be one of those days where Jumba was in a foul mood. The rest of their little o'hana knew better than to get in his way when he was in these moods, but Pleakley found it almost impossible to stay away. He was fascinated, at times, by Jumba's fury. He found it hard to imagine being that angry, that full of contempt and evil thoughts.

Pleakley was never known to be an angry person. He was very friendly and tried to stay positive, although, that usually was replaced by panic and fear, which were two other main traits about him. Meek and mild, Pleakley was amazed by Jumba's anger, and that was why he insisted on peeking inside the door to see what he was doing on the inside.

Scanning the room, Pleakley saw that Jumba was facing away from him, sitting at a table, the little chair being almost crushed under his weight, yet holding steady. Little sparks of electricity flew around either side of Jumba as a soft white glow was emitting from whatever the larger alien was working on.

Pleakley wanted to step in closer, step up from behind Jumba and look around his shoulder, but he had learned the hard way that that was not the greatest of ideas. Jumba hated that. If he wanted to let everyone know what he was doing, he would make an effort to do so. Otherwise, he did not wish to share on his ideas and work and it was best to stay away.

Pleakley gulped. He hated it when Jumba locked himself up in his lab. It only meant that Pleakley would not have anything else to do but wonder what he was doing. It left him on edge. Much to his dismay, Pleakley found that the only time he was ever truly happy was when Jumba was in the room. He shivered as he thought this, knowing it made his situation all the more worse. No one would be able to understand him if they ever found out.

Pleakley jumped, muffling a startled squeak as Jumba suddenly stood, grumbling about something and throwing something that sounded like metal onto the table. "Ack. Primitive Earth science" he mumbled darkly. Pleakley flinched back behind the door as Jumba turned around, just being able to shut the door in time, hoping that Jumba wouldn't notice him. Unfortunately, the door did make noise this time. As it closed, it gave a soft click, which did not go past Jumba's hearing.

Frowning, he grabbed the doorknob, opening the door. He looked both ways as he poked his head out. No one was to be seen. He knew that Lilo was off at school and Nani was off at work. It was neither of the girls, he had concluded, which only left Stitch and Pleakley. Stitch had not been heard from ever since Lilo had left for school. Jumba had a hunch that 626 was outside, helping guide the little ducklings back to the pond, who tended to get lost in the woods. He did that often, having grown attached to them.

Clearing his throat deeply, Jumba took a large step and started out the door. "Come on out, my little one-eyed one. I know you have been spying on me. You are not nearly as crafty as you believe yourself to be" he called out throughout the house. His voice was not light-hearted and friendly as it usually was. This time, it held annoyance and frustration. He began making his way to the kitchen, intending to walk through the house in search for his alien friend.

Once the close was clear and Jumba's heavy footsteps could not be heard, Pleakley pushed the door away from him, having hid behind the door that Jumba had opened. His eye wide with panic and fear.

"Oh, great…..He knows I was looking in on him!!" his whispered very quietly. His hearts were racing inside his chest. He felt himself trembling. It was so odd. How could he be so in love with someone who scared him so much? He didn't understand why he was this scared. He usually wasn't. Maybe it was because this time, he had something to hide.

"You best be coming out now, little one, before you start to make me very upset" he could hear Jumba call out from the front on the house.

Forcing himself to move, Pleakley quietly started for the stairs, knowing that the comfort of his bed would calm him down slightly. The stairs squeaked ever so slightly, much to his dismay, knowing Jumba will have heard them. His hearing may not have been as good as Stitch's but it was still quite good. Better than his at any rate.

Throwing the door open and catching it before it hit the wall to make even more noise, Pleakley jumped onto his bed, pushing himself up against the wall and curling up, trying to make it look as though he had been there for a while.

"Please don't be mad….I don't wanna be afraid of you…" he breathed in and breathed out, exaggerating this greatly as he made quite a bit of noise. He put a hand over his chest, playing with the orange fabric of his dress.

Up came Jumba, his large feet making lots of noise on the stairs. The door opened and there was Jumba, all four of his eyes watching Pleakley critically.

"Ah, there you are!" grinned Jumba, his hands behind his back. He was walking the same way he had when they had first met, in that same, almost mocking, manner. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find you."

Courage filled Pleakley's chest as his fear for the larger alien diminished. "Yeah, well, you found me! Now what?" he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away, trying to be indignant and failing miserably.

Jumba's cheery façade vanished, being replaced with an upset frown. "You were looking in on me when you know you shouldn't. I was busy working on evil genius work. You could have disturbed my research, or interrupted something very delicate and dangerous."

Pleakley's sudden courage remained where it was, much to his surprise. "Yeah!? Well, you shouldn't be working on anything dangerous anyways!!" He covered his mouth, recoiling. So much for trying to be innocent, he just blew his cover entirely.

Jumba's eyes widened. "Oh! So you are not denying spying on me, eh?" He stepped closer to Pleakley's bed, now standing just before it, looking down upon him.

Pleakley trembled, but not all of it was out of fear. 'He's so close to me…. He's right there. He's…'

Pleakley shook his head. "N-No! And I don't see why you're so funny about that, crazy head! I wasn't doing anything wrong! I was just curious!!" Pleakley yelled despite their closeness.

"Ever heard of the phrase, 'Curiosity killed kitty cat'? No? It is a common Earth saying. You should memorize and learn it well" justified Jumba sternly. "Besides, I am privileged to my own privacy, no? I do not go snooping around in your personal business, now do I? So what gives you right to do that with me?"

Pleakley knew he had a great point there and found it hard to retaliate. He knew several reasons why Jumba shouldn't be allowed proper privacy rights. The main reason is that he was an evil scientist who was known for creating 627 evil experiments. But no matter how many times he opened and closed his mouth to speak, he couldn't make any words come out. He hated the way Jumba was looking down at him, being thankful that these situations didn't happen often. Jumba was not usually like this with him.

"You not in mood to talk? Fine with me. Just means my ears will have chance to relax for once and not have to listen to pointless chatter from my little one" shrugged Jumba after several minutes of waiting. He climbed up to the top of the bunk bed, making himself comfy in his bed, his arms behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling.

'My little one'. Those words echoed through Pleakley's mind. He had once asked Jumba why he called him that, hoping that perhaps he would get a sweet, adorable response which was Jumba's way of saying he loved him back. But he had been disappointed when all he got was a simple explanation that Pleakley was part of his o'hana and since he was so much smaller than himself, he claimed the word 'little'.

Silence ensued between them for what seemed like an eternity to the little alien. He sat back in his bed, looking up at the bottom of the bed above him, knowing Jumba was up there.

"Be listening, little one" Jumba suddenly announced from above him. "I do not mean to be nasty, I just hate it when being spied upon, see?" Pleakley pushed himself further down into the bed at these words.

"You shouldn't….keep secrets. Not in an o'hana!" fought back Pleakley, still feeling the need to make Jumba feel at fault. It was his fault. He wouldn't have to be spying if it wasn't for him and his secrets!

"Am not keeping secrets!" insisted Jumba, much to Pleakley's surprise. His eye went wide, his expression blank. He sat up into a sitting position, looking up at the bed above him and glaring.

"Then why are you all, 'hush, hush' about your stuff in the lab!?" demanded the plorginarian.

"It is my privacy" was the simply reply. Jumba's voice was losing its anger, now turning into his more casual, usual voice. It now even hung a ring of laziness in it. Pleakley knew this was a good thing, since the chance of getting in the way of Jumba's fury was no longer likely. His hearts slowed to a normal pace as he calmed down, knowing the danger was over. Now they were just in a simple argument, which they had all the time. He was nonetheless amazed by Jumba's response.

"Well, your 'privacy' has the rest of us worried about what you might be doing or making in there!!" cried Pleakley. His voice was higher now, full of emotion.

"Hah!!" laughed Jumba. "You all have wild imaginations. I would not dream of creating any more experiments."

"Oh, right! And I'm supposed to believe that!?" scoffed Pleakley, rolling his eye. There was nothing else spoken after this. Pleakley waited for Jumba to say more, expecting him to defend himself. Jumba was a proud being, and at times, ignorant. Not always though. He had his moments which shocked everyone. Particularly the time when Jumba unwittingly agreed to be his 'wife' while his mother and siblings came. His mother had insisted and pleaded for him to get married, badgering him to the point where she called constantly. It had been a nightmare, trying to pull it off. Nani at first went along with the idea, reluctant of course, but then flat out refused at the thought of an actual minister being involved and being actually wed to him for eternity. That was when Jumba stepped up to the plate.

He would never forget the feeling of being up there, standing in front of the minister, so close to Jumba. Of course, he had wished that things had been reversed and he had been the one wearing the dress. But it had all been to please his mother and to get her off his back. Now, looking up at the bottom of Jumba's bunk bed, knowing he was lying on top of it, he wished that something could happen between them.

He shook his head. He was always thinking this, it seemed. Always thinking of what he wished could happen, all the while knowing it could never.

The silence that followed was starting to get on Pleakley's nerves. Why was Jumba suddenly so silent? Why? His hearts pounded in his chest as he sat up once again and threw his three legs off the bed, standing. He made sure to be quiet, just in case. He knew it could be the simple fact that Jumba had fallen asleep, but his curiosity got the better of him and he needed to check anyways.

Putting a three-fingered hand on the little ladder that led upwards, Pleakley slowly and quietly climbed up it, poking his head up to see Jumba's enormous form. Jumba was large, to be putting it modestly, his large stomach being noticeable as he laid there. Pleakley blinked, finally being able to see Jumba's face and found that he had fallen asleep. Gently, trying not to let his slight weight be noticed too much, he crawled up to the very edge of the bed, where he sat there and watched in awe. He felt his face go hot. Jumba's Hawaiian hula shirt was covering most of him, but not being able to cover his large stomach. Pleakley found it cute, that while he had difficulty finding clothes to fit his tiny frame, Jumba had difficulty finding closes to cover his enormous frame. Complete opposites.

Being daring for once, Pleakley leaned in closer to, trying to get closer to Jumba's face. He trembled, but not with fear. Anxiety. So many things could happen at once that would make this situation bad. The main one being that if Jumba woke up.

A cloud of emotion took over Pleakley, making him give a small frown. His face was a deep gold color now, just for being so close to Jumba. His hearts ached with want and pleasure as he slowly leaned forward, closer to Jumba. Perhaps it would not hurt. No. It shouldn't. It will only last a moment. He closed his eye and got even closer.

Jumba's hand moved slightly, which knocked into Pleakley's own small hand beside it. Stunned by the sudden movement, Pleakley's eye widened as he lost his balance since Jumba had pushed his arm over, which had been holding him. He fell into Jumba, landing on his larger shoulder and neck. Startled, Jumba awoke, sitting up quicker than Pleakley thought possible for him. And for whatever reason, Pleakley did one of the things he was known for. Screaming bloody murder.

He raised his chin, opening his mouth largely and screamed, his eyes shut tight.

Jumba mumbled something darkly, rubbing at his two front eyes. Meanwhile, his one smaller right eye was open and looking at Pleakley.

"Pleakley!? What are you doing!? Why are you screaming!?" demanded Jumba as he sat up and covered his ears. His Plorginarian friend was still screaming. He took one of his large hands and covered Pleakley's mouth, which immediately made him stop his hollering. Pleakley opened his eye and saw Jumba looking at him with question. Jumba kept his hand where it was, knowing his friend well when he was panicked.

Pleakley was indeed panicked. He was freaking out, having not been expecting Jumba to wake up. Oh, all he had wanted was a tiny kiss on the cheek. Was he not allowed that much?

Pleakley just stared at his friend, his mind racing as he tried to think of an excuse for suddenly sitting right next to him, in the privacy of his bed. His eye looked around, as though there were answers waiting for him. Jumba didn't say anything as he slowly removed his hand, still watching him carefully.

"Now, my little one, if you have stopped screaming head off and making me deaf, would you kindly be explaining what you are doing?" Jumba asked. His voice was soft, not nearly as angry as Pleakley had expected it to be. His bad mood must be vanishing.

"I…." fumbled Pleakley, looking down at his hands as he fiddled with them in his lap. "I….I don't know. I…um….That is…I…." he wasn't able to think of anything. His mind was going too fast to comprehend any of it. 'He called me his 'little one' again.' he thought, his hearts melting. 'Oh, I wanna tell him, but then I'll have to leave for sure. I can't leave here, I love this place. I'd have to live with mom. Oh, sweet galaxies, no! Oh, he asked me a question. What did he ask!? Oh, I wasn't listening! He's expecting me to answer. He's watching me, I know he is. I can just tell. Oh….!'

After another few moments of stunned silence, in which Jumba waited patiently, Pleakley was no longer able to hold any of it in. Tears came to his eye as sobs began to wrack through his thin body.

Jumba blinked, his mouth agape slightly at the sudden sight of Pleakley crying. He had no idea what was going on. He knew that his temper had scared his little friend, but he was no longer angry and he was sure Pleakley knew this. Then why was his little one crying? His effeminate friend cried out his emotions often, but at least during those times, he seemed to have a reason. Now, it seemed entirely out of the blue, at least as far as Jumba knew.

Jumba raised a hand and placed it on Pleakley's shoulder, then taking the other one and fixing the strap of his dress, which had fallen off his shoulder at some point. "Hush, my little one-eyed one. Why all the fuss?" He took his large index finger and rested it under Pleakley's chin, raising his head so he could see Pleakley's face. Pleakley trembled, fighting back sobs as he did this, refusing to look Jumba in the eye. "You are a mystery to me, little one" concluded Jumba, leaning back a bit and letting his hands fall. Pleakley finally looked up at this, rubbing at his eye, which was now red. "You are so strange. One minute, you are happy as can be. Next you cry as though someone died. It is making no sense to me."

Pleakley took in deep noisy breaths, knowing the best thing to do right now was to breath and calm himself down. He sighed, looking away again. "I am sorry."

Jumba blinked. "Hmm? Sorry for what?"

"Everything."

"You is making no sense."

"I'm sorry."

"About what!?" Jumba was getting frustrated. He was glad Pleakley was sorry, for whatever it is he had done, but he wanted to know **why** he was sorry.

Pleakley so desperately wanted to spill everything. Tell him exactly what was wrong and why he was so sorry. But he knew he couldn't. Deep inside, he knew that if anyone found out, everything would end. No more dressing up, no more wigs, no more o'hana, no more fun on the beach, no more cooking, no more reading books about Earth and fashion, no more Lilo and Stitch, no more helping Nani, no more experiment hunting, no more Jumba. He forced himself not to cry again at that last thought. "I'm sorry…." Jumba frowned, thinking Pleakley was just going to repeat himself. He listened anyways, just in case. "I don't know what got into me…" He tried to give him a fake laugh, but knew it was useless. "I just, umm….realized that you were sleeping and came up to cover you up…with um….a blanket. Yes. So you wouldn't get cold."

Jumba nodded, a small smile on his lips. "That was very kind of you. But why did you scream?"

"You scared me."

"Ah, I see. And why all the crying?"

"I don't know. That's the part where I don't know what got into me…." replied Pleakley quietly, looking down into his lap. "I'm…just…gonna go now…" Jumba watched silently as Pleakley moved backwards on the bed, feeling his way back down the ladder and onto the floor. A moment later, Jumba got up and followed him. But before Jumba had both his feet on the wood floor, Pleakley was gone, leaving him still baffled.

------

"Oh, Nani!!!" cried out Pleakley. He was currently in the kitchen, his favorite light pink apron on over his magenta sleeveless dress. In his one hand was a bag full of Nani's supper. It turned out that her new job at the store did not give her enough time to come home and eat, let alone go and get something somewhere in town. So Pleakley had taken it upon himself to make sure that she had something to eat. She had worked two shifts that day, which was thankfully only because she was in training, but much to her dismay, most of her working hours were later in the afternoon and at night. She was able to sleep in at least, but that also meant that the nights were up to Jumba and Pleakley to handle. Nani just hoped Pleakley would be able to handle everything. She held nothing against Jumba, she just knew he was a little less enforcing on the rules of the house than Pleakley was.

Nani sighed as she flipped her hair back into a pony tail, her work outfit consisting of a blue collared shirt and light tan Capri pants. She headed for the kitchen, where Pleakley was waiting for her, a large smile on his face as he held it out for her to grab.

"Thanks Pleakley!" she said breathlessly as she grabbed her keys.

"Oh, no problem!" smiled Pleakley with a shrug. "It's my pleasure, really!"

Nani nodded as she grabbed her shoes and put them on. "Remember, " she began saying to him as she tied her shoes. "I don't want Lilo up late, okay? She has school tomorrow and you know what happens when she stays up too late." Pleakley nodded, well aware. The first time that had happened, when Jumba and Pleakley had first moved in, it had startled them both when Lilo was screaming downstairs, running away from Nani as she tried to get her to brush her teeth before catching the bus.

Learning to live with humans had been both easy and difficult for all three aliens. Earth customs were not something easy for them to learn. Pleakley seemed to think it was fascinating, getting into the spirit of things whenever he had the chance. Jumba dismissed as much of them as he could without being mean or ignorant. He didn't want to be rude about it, it was just that his kind were not used to such strange ways and formalities.

They all managed to work things out though, in the end. They all had each other and that was what was important.

Pleakley waved goodbye to Nani as she ran down the porch steps, already getting behind on her new work schedule if she didn't hurry. Pleakley shut the door, pulling down the shutter that was on the door's window. He turned around and looked at the living, walking over to the couch and fluffing the pillow. Nani was not going to be back until late, so it was now just the four of them. Stitch was playing in the laundry again, dressing up and pretending he was shooting Gantu, Lilo was supposedly upstairs doing her homework, or so she was supposed to be doing that and Jumba-- Well, Pleakley didn't know what Jumba was doing. Ever since the incident earlier that morning, Pleakley had taken it upon himself to stay away from Jumba for a little while. Which was easier said than done. He had done it once again. Cleaned the entire house for the second day in a row. Though it was a lot harder to clean a house that was perfectly clean already. Mainly when you were doing to take your mind off something, or in his case, someone.

"Stitch! Come back here!!" cried Lilo from the other room. Pleakley blinked. That wasn't right. She was supposed to be doing her homework. A stern frown on his lips, Pleakley went in search of the trouble, but ran into something large and tall before he could go any further. He was about to fall to the floor, when a large arm wrapped around his tiny frame and caught him.

"Whoa! I am sorry, little one. I did not see you! You came in through door so suddenly!" chuckled Jumba, helping Pleakley get his balance. Pleakley felt his face go hot once again as he turned gold. "Are you feeling any better?"

Pleakley regarded this question., then realized he didn't understand why it was asked. "What?"

"Earlier, you were upset. All crying and confused. Are you feeling better?" Jumba replied, explaining what he had meant in his question.

"Oh! Yes! I am feeling a lot better, thank you. And I promise, I won't look in on you anymore when you are working" added Pleakley, knowing this wasn't true. He would never be able to himself from looking inside and seeing what his Jumba was doing.

"That is good to be hearing" chuckled Jumba as he headed in for the kitchen. As he walked by, Pleakley stiffened as Jumba's arm rubbed up against his own. He shivered, but it went unnoticed by Jumba. He closed his eye and forced himself to calm down. Nothing was going to happen. Nothing could happen. He just had to live with that.

Jumba was in a far better mood than he had been earlier. There was no comparison. As the night drew in, Pleakley became more relaxed and more himself. He was currently sitting in the kitchen, not having anything else to do as he watched Lilo work on her scrap book, which contained all the experiments they had captured; a picture for each of them. He was still wearing his magenta dress, just minus his apron and Lilo was wearing her usual red dress. As Pleakley sat there in thought, Lilo was talking about her scrapbook.

"I think it'll be great to look back upon and see all of Stitch's cousins!" she pasted a picture on one of the many pages. "Besides, there are so many of them, its impossible to try and remember all of them in the future. We wouldn't want anyone to be forgotten."

Pleakley nodded, only half listening. His mind was on other matters. Such as what he was going to do about his situation. He couldn't let incidents like what happened that morning take place again. Jumba and the others would start to get suspicious and then his secret would be out.

"Pleakley, are you okay?" The question from the little girl was louder than his thoughts, breaking the barrier of his mind. He blinked and looked at her.

"What?" "Are you okay? You just seem…." she titled her head, eyeing a now nervous Pleakley. "Unhappy."

Pleakley opened his mouth to say something but was at a loss for words. "Wha--why do you think I'm unhappy? What would give you that idea?" His voice was slightly higher than normal, which he knew was a dead give away to his nerves.

"You just seem less…..happy and positive. I don't know, but I just think that whatever it is, you can tell us. I mean, we are o'hana, and o'hana stick together." She gave him a large smile, which went straight to the alien's hearts. He couldn't help but smile back. He looked up to see Jumba walking into the kitchen. He diverted his eyes back on Lilo, but not before Lilo looked back as well to see that it was Jumba who had walked in. She gave him a sharp, yet gentle look, as thought trying to figure something out. He knew he had to reassure her as soon as possible that he was okay.

"I'm…I'm okay, Lilo. Really" he said softly. He berated himself mentally for stuttering, which was an obvious giveaway that something was wrong. But he couldn't do anything about it now. He watched as she shut her scrapbook and hopped down from her chair, claming she had to go and find Stitch. Pleakley sighed. He was going to have to watch Lilo carefully. He knew very well how aware she was about the things around her. At least, most of the time. Especially when it involved anyone from her o'hana. He couldn't let her find out.

Jumba was grumbling about something as he looked into the drawers of the kitchen counter. "Looking for something?" called over Pleakley, still sitting in his chair.

"Yes. I am looking for screwdriver" replied Jumba, never looking up from his search.

"I don't think any are in there" opted Pleakley.

"626 hides tools from me. They could be anywhere."

Pleakley nodded. He drummed his fingers on the table, watching Jumba out of the corner of his eye. He was bored. Had nothing to do. Needed to distract himself. What better way to do that than to put a wig on and dress up? Excited, Pleakley bolted for the stairs and into his room, where his wigs were waiting for him.


	3. Chapter 3

Deep Inside

Chapter 3

He felt his cheeks go hot as everyone sat around the table. He didn't know why. All he was doing was sitting next to the one creature in the world who made his hearts beg and beg for more, that was all.

It was true, Jumba was sitting right next to Pleakley, who knew that if he didn't calm down and make his cheeks less hot, someone was going to notice and say something, and if that happened, so much for keeping it a secret.

Nani had once again insisted that they had a family night. Not that any of them minded. They were actually relieved to learn that this family night was not alien themed.

So there Pleakley sat, next to Jumba at the little table. David had not been able to come, having to work, much to Nani's dismay, so it was just the five of them that night. Because of this, everyone was able to sit at the kitchen table and eat, since there was enough room. Dinner was a quiet event, to say the least, especially for them. Stitch was usually a little more active and chaotic when anything involved food, but he claimed he was tired. Lilo, who was beside him, explained to everyone that he was troubled and claimed that they needed dessert, a technique she enjoyed using.

"Okay, Lilo. You'll get dessert, but eat your mashed potatoes first" instructed Nani sternly. She glanced over at Pleakley, who went stiff as a board when Jumba reached across him to grab the basket of bread. "Pleakley, are you okay?"

Pleakley looked at the older girl and blinked. He gulped. He had hoped that no one would notice his behavior. "Me? Haha. I'm just fine. I was just admiring the wonderful taste of your…" he trailed off, finally realizing that there was nothing on your plate.

Jumba looked down at his empty plate with a blank look. "Ah, I hear invisible food is bad for your digestive system" he then nibbled at his bread, turning back and looking forward. Pleakley knew he was teasing him, but it didn't make his situation any better.

"Aren't you hungry?" asked Nani.

The truth was, he wasn't hungry. Not in the least. His appetite left the moment he sat down next to Jumba, his hearts taking over his body and being the only thing he could focus on. His hearts ached, wanting nothing more then to hold Jumba's hand, or give him a hug, or…anything….or… Pleakley shook his head. He needed to stop thinking like that.

"No…..No….. No" repeated Pleakley, his voice a different pitch each time. He shook his head. "No. I am not hungry." He pushed his empty plate away. Nani frowned.

"Is it my cooking?" she asked quietly, sounding slightly hurt. All eyes where suddenly on the little Plorginarian. Pleakley squeaked, seeing his mistake.

"No!! No! No! It's not your cooking! Your cooking is great! I couldn't ask for better Earth food! Or food at all! It's just…I'm not hungry! No." he wrapped his arms around his stomach. "My stomach is just not wanting food!" He knew he looked ridiculous and sounded ridiculous but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Pleakley has been down in the dumps lately…" offered Lilo, playing with her mashed potatoes. Pleakley shifted uncomfortably as she said this.

"I am not!" cried out Pleakley, defending himself.

"Ooh, gala jookigaba veesta!" inputted Stitch as he pointed a sharp nailed finger at Pleakley. This made Jumba laugh.

"Haha. 626 says you are lying!" he chuckled. Pleakley paled. Those words hurt him as they came from Jumba, even though he knew Jumba was only translating. Pleakley shrugged, trying not to look indulged.

"Fine. Think what you want. I'm just not hungry" at this he stood, not wishing to be a part of their little family night anymore. Nani would have none of this.

"Pleakley! Sit down! You may not be eating, but you're having family night with us!" she ordered, getting stern with him. Pleakley gave her a meek look. Usually he would do as he was told, especially where Nani was concerned, but a part of him suddenly had the urge to leave. When he didn't sit down right away, Jumba turned to him. "Don't make her mad. Do as she says." Pleakley gave him a sour look. Since when did he follow Nani's orders? He bit his tongues, deciding it would be best not to say anything to that remark. He was still just standing there, right beside him chair. Lilo was still sullenly playing with her mashed potatoes and Stitch was flat out playing with his, trying to make some sort of castle as you would in the sand.

"No." Everyone looked up at Pleakley, stunned.

"Come on! Pleakley…" Nani's voice changed from stern to gentle and pleading. "I would like to have a family night and you're a part of this family, so please, sit down with us."

"Why does it matter if I'm here or not? Never used to matter" he said these words without really thinking. A stunned silence fell over, in which time Lilo's attention was taken from her plate and up at her "aunty" Pleakley. "We're an o'hana, Pleakley. You know that. We just want you to be with us." Jumba shifted in his chair, shifting a bit and looking over at Pleakley. "Why are you making big fuss? Girls just want you to sit with us, then sit with us. I want you to sit by me. Now come." he motioned his hand towards the empty chair beside him. "Sit."

Pleakley's hearts skipped a beat. He knew he wouldn't be able to deny that. Jumba wanted to him. His Jumba. His Jumba wanted him to sit beside him. Pleakley finally made his body move and sat down, which earned him a wide and happy smile from Lilo, who sat across from him. Nani smiled and went back to her plate. Stitch had never left his mashed potato castle. Jumba was now on his second piece of bread as Pleakley looked up at him. Feeling brave, Pleakley leaned closer to Jumba and whispered, "You wanted me to sit, so I sat." He tried to sound suave when he said this, but it didn't work to well.

Jumba gave him a questioning look. "Of course. We all wished for you to sit down. So that you didn't go off and leave us on family night."

Pleakley hadn't expected that response, but before being totally crushed, he tried again. "But you wanted me to sit down more though, yes?"

Jumba gave his small friend a curious glance. "You are strange little one. You make things seem more than they really are. I wanted you to sit because you are a part of this o'hana" he explained himself.

Pleakley gave him a crushed look, which made Jumba blink. Pleakley looked away, trying to keep himself from having a melt down. It wasn't working very well. His emotions took over as he frowned, looking heartbroken. Everyone jumped in surprise when Pleakley suddenly bolted from his chair and was gone within the next few seconds, not even giving them a chance to see him leave.

Nani had looked up, looking sad. "Is he okay?" she asked Jumba.

Jumba shrugged. "How should I be knowing? It is Pleakley. He is so unpredictable, you'd have better chance of predicting weather than Pleakley. I will go up to check on him after dinner. For now, let little one have space."

Nani nodded, knowing that would probably be best. Lilo tilted her head. She had watched the entire enactment with Pleakley and the way he had acted and responded. She watched Jumba carefully as he finished his food. She narrowed her eyes, but not in an angry way, but to try and see if there was more going on than she could tell. She was about to voice her thoughts when Stitch tapped her on the shoulder. She looked over.

"Ala, ghalfa kleeba!!" cried out Stitch in victory. On his plate was a little detailed castle that was made out of his potatoes, even including some little guards to guard the castle. "Cool!!" cried Lilo, impressed. Her thoughts about Jumba and Pleakley being pushed away as she awed at Stitch's masterpiece.

-----

Pleakley was far from alright. He had bolted out of the kitchen and ran as fast as he could to the safety of his bed. It seemed that his bed was the only safe place he had anymore. Where he could go whenever needed and not be disturbed nearly as much as anywhere else. There was always that chance, but it lessened here.

Pleakley was now sitting on his bed, curled up. Now that he was alone in his room and on his bed, he let the tears come. He tried to keep it quiet, not wishing for anyone else to hear him downstairs. His crying was quieter this time, thankfully, and his sobs were less loud. Less loud, perhaps, but harsher than usual. He fell back into the bed, curling up even more, laying on his side, his back facing the wall. His sobs wracked through his tiny body as he numbly took his covers and wrapped them around him.

He was so stupid. How could he be that stupid? Why was he like this? Why did he insist on loving someone so strongly and praying that they'll return his love when he knew that it would never happen. The image of Jumba giving him that confused look as he replied, "You are strange little one. You make things seem more than they really are. I wanted you to sit because you are a part of this o'hana" burned in his mind. Of course that was the only reason Jumba wanted him to sit down. Jumba only saw him as a part of their o'hana. Part of family. One of the members who lived under the same roof as he did. Nothing more, nothing less. He moaned a bit.

He wished he wasn't like this. But he couldn't deny it anymore. He had always been this way. Even when he was younger. As a child, little Wendy had never fit in with the little Plorginarian children at his home planet. Instead of being strong and tough and with boyish spirit, wishing to play games, get into trouble, and act tough, he found pleasure in staying at home, reading books, playing with his mom's jewelry, or sneaking peeks at his sister's dresses. Picked on throughout his life, Pleakley had grown used to rude tantalizing comments about how he acted. His mother had never been happy with his behavior, and always reprimanded him for doing such girly things. But he never understood what was so wrong about it all, so he just kept doing it. Secretly of course. He would try on Pixley's dresses when he was home alone and wear make up. He did it because he found himself to look pretty, which was something he always loved. He liked being pretty.

Pleakley's sobs grew harsher as his mind changed wheels, remembering when Jumba and him had just arrived on Earth, still trying to catch Stitch and take him back to the Galactic Grand Councilwoman. It had been at that fake luau. He had been sitting there with his black wig on, in a floral dress and a little purple purse in his lap. He fit the part perfectly to be the 'wife' in their little charade of disguise. But what had made Pleakley's sobs harsher was the comment Jumba had made after Stitch had chewed on his head.

"Actually, she's just ugly" he had said watching him as he fixed his wig. At the time, he had been too flustered about the whole thing, sputtering and trying to assure both himself and Nani that everything was alright. He had even denied Jumba's comment. "Ha ha, darling... He's joking. Ugly! Look at me... ha ha!" Not only that, but at the time, it was far before Pleakley's feelings for Jumba would be realized. He hadn't known at the time why the comment had hurt so much. But he did now. His sobs got quieter as he calmed down a bit, rubbing at his eye, sniffling. This was just something he was going to have to deal with.

It was at this moment that the door squeaked opened, startling Pleakley. He looked to see that it was Jumba and quickly turned around so that he was facing the wall. Jumba saw this, and gave a sad frown.

"My little one-eyed one. Please do not be like this" he began softly. He walked in unsurely, not knowing how to deal with Pleakley. He usually never did. He could hear the other alien sniffling and trying to control his sobs. "What has you so upset? Hmm?"

"You don't want to know" mumbled Pleakley. Jumba almost didn't hear him because his voice was muffled by the sheets. Jumba sat at the edge of the bed with a sigh.

"That I doubt. You have Bigger Girl upset. She is worried that she upset you" started Jumba, knowing no other place to start.

"That's not what has me upset" quipped Pleakley, letting out a lose sob afterwards.

"Ah!" beamed Jumba. Progress. "Then what has you upset?"

"I told you…..y-you don't wanna….know" It was getting harder for Pleakley to talk, his emotions getting harder to control. Jumba moved closer to the little alien. He took his large hand and gently touched Pleakley's back, who flinched at the touch. Gently, with experience only an evil genius who had created 627 experiments and had knowledge of how to calm a creature down, he took a large finger and ran it down Pleakley's back, who moaned slightly at the touch. Giving by the sound of pleasure, Jumba knew Pleakley loved it. Such a tiny thing as Pleakley would.

"Come now, little one. You best be telling me. It will only get worse if you don't. You are making yourself sick by keeping it all bottled up" Jumba said gently. It was only moments like this that Jumba's gentle side came out. He knew all too well that Pleakley was the only one who ever truly saw his soft side. Lilo has seen it, through the few occasions of nightmares and family moments. He remembered several times Lilo would wake with a bad dream and come looking for her Uncle Jumba. He never knew why she went to him, of all people. Not to her sister, not to Stitch, not to Pleakley. Him. He was her nightmare protector. He saved her and comforted her from them. He didn't mind. He enjoyed those moments, which allowed him to know that he was loved and needed by this strange family. His race were not known for such tender moments, but here, he had them so much more often.

"You really want to know?" asked Pleakley, who turned over and looked at Jumba. With wide, curious eyes, Jumba nodded. Pleakley groaned. The moment of truth had finally come. He might as well get over it. He would have to call his mother in the morning so she could prepare for his arrival. He gulped. He took a deep breath. "I… don't know how to say this…" His mind went blank. Hmm…He didn't even know where to begin.

"Try showing me?" offered Jumba.

Pleakley turned gold at the thought, his mind wild. "What!? No! I--I can't I…." Then an idea struck him. He calmed down a bit. He looked Jumba straight in the eye. "You'll let me show you?"

Jumba gave him an uncertain look, not liking the way Pleakley was putting this. "Umm…under reasonable conditions, yes." Pleakley got up and scooted closer to Jumba on his three knees. Jumba just watched him, utterly confused. Pleakley placed himself in front of Jumba and looked up, his face a complete gold. Leaning in closer, he closed his eye. Maybe, perhaps, there was the slightest hope that Jumba wouldn't mind this, that he would accept it and enjoy it. Just as Pleakley was about to kiss him, Jumba pushed him back, much to his dismay and hurt. He fell back onto the bed, then sat back up, looking at Jumba. He looked flustered. Jumba ran a hand over the three little hairs on his head, closing eyes and thinking, turning his head downward slightly. "Ugh…I see what you are trying to get across…" Pleakley just waited for more on baited breath. "It makes sense now. Your silly little antics and flustered ways. Must say, at times it was obvious."

Pleakley stared at him. "I was obvious?"

Jumba looked up and rolled his eyes. "Oh, little one, how could you not have been? I have had suspicions for long while. At first, I thought it was just disguises for here on little planet. Then, when girls know of us and we start living with them, you didn't stop you little girlish antics. Again, I thought, he's just silly, he likes it. Then when you never stopped and begged me to dress up and go out places with you, I began to think maybe there was more to all of it. Clinging to me and always wanting to be around me. I thought it was what our o'hana calls 'friendship', but now you have concluded my suspicions. It's more."

Pleakley had listened, realizing how obvious he truly had been and finding it all amazing. All that fuss for nothing. He had been possibly known the whole time. Maybe the call to his mother would be canceled. Maybe.

"So….now what?" squeaked Pleakley.

Jumba blinked. "What?"

"What happens now?"

"What do you mean what happens now?"

"I just told you I have feelings for you! Now what!?" he knew he was practically shouting, but he had to know.

"Little one….You know better…" whispered Jumba, looking at him sternly but gently. Pleakley felt both his hearts stop. His eye watered up. Jumba saw this and immediately took action. He took Pleakley by the shoulders and pushed him towards his chest, holding him. "I am sorry. But it cannot be. You are a Plorginarian. I am a Kweltiwaan. Two entirely different races. Kweltiwaans are not like Plorginarians. We are solitary creatures who are focused on work, studies, and little time for relationships. We only mate to make heirs and continue our race. Besides, I tried it. Ex-wife was no good." he shuddered at the memory at her. "Same with all other women I have tried."

Pleakley was looking down at the bed, playing with the bed sheets on his lap. AS tear ran down the side of his face. "Can't we……can't we just…try?"

"Try what? Being a couple?"

Pleakley nodded. "You never know, you may like it. I….I…really want this.."

Jumba shook his head. "I am sorry little one." Pleakley collapsed on the bed, now laying on his stomach and sighed, then the tears came. "You can't even try it? Experiment with it? Play around? Y-You never….know…" He shivered as Jumba once again rubbed his back with a large fat finger. Pleakley's breathing hitched a bit. "I'll…pack up and leave. I should….be…be gone by tomorrow night…."

Jumba stopped rubbing Pleakley's back, retracting his hand. "What do you mean, leave?"

Pleakley took in a long ragged breath before sitting back up and looking at Jumba. "I….I have to leave now."

"Why?" demanded Jumba, getting upset at the thought of Pleakley leaving.

"I…I'm….No one will understand me now. The others…they won't--" Jumba put up his hand, stopping him, seeming to realize what was going on.

"I see. You think little girl and 626 won't still like you? I wager they already know. Or at least have hunch. And of so, they still haven't kicked you out or shunned you" pointed out Jumba. Pleakley nodded.

"Well, please, just…don't tell anyone. Since you've said no, just forget this ever happened. I….I'll be okay." With this said, Pleakley rubbed the tears out of his eye and stood, putting on his favorite black wig and heading down the stairs. He hummed a tune as he did this, hitched from his hiccups from all the crying, but humming all the same. Jumba just sat there and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. His little one was so strange. He wanted to be there for him, but didn't know how. He would just have to wait and see what happened next. He sighed again as he stood. He knew he should have skipped dinner and stayed in the ship's lab.


	4. Chapter 4

Deep Inside

Chapter 4

The sun was slowly disappearing from behind the clouds as Lilo and Stitch ran to the front door of the house, each skipping as many steps as they could to the top, they were such a hurry. As Pleakley opened up the door for them he was nearly crushed into the wall when they ran inside.

"And why, might I ask, are you two trying to run me over!?" he demanded in a high voice. Lilo looked back at him, for she and Stitch had stopped running and gave him a genuine smile.

"We're sorry Pleakley, its just that we just caught another experiment, and we wanted to bring it home as soon as possible! This one has been giving us some problems, mainly because it kept hiding deep in the ocean's shore line" explained Lilo. This was the first time that Pleakley noticed what it was that Stitch was carrying. It was one of the many containers that they used to catch the experiments.

Pleakley didn't even bother going over to see what new experiment the two friends had caught this time. To him, it didn't matter. So long as it was taken care of as soon as possible and no one got hurt, he was happy. After what had happened the night before, he had not been in the mood to do much. He had slept in, and therefore did not make breakfast, therefore shocking his entire little o'hana. All but Jumba that is. He had figured that Pleakley would do that, and simply informed Nani, Stitch, and Lilo that Pleakley had stayed up late reading and decided to sleep in. Everyone seemed to have bought it, but Jumba had doubts that Lilo did. He had watched as Lilo took in the information and she had just looked back at him, her curious eyes suspecting more.

Pleakley, after his talk with Jumba, had walked back down to the kitchen and apologized to Nani for behaving so rudely, but she shrugged it off, saying, "It's alright, Pleakley. I'm sure you just weren't hungry. I just wanted you to be with us was all" and had gone back to washing the dishes.

He had cried last night. It was all he could do. He had tried to keep it quiet, but he knew he had failed miserably. He knew Jumba had heard him. He could tell by how many times Jumba had tosses and turned. Though Jumba did not act as though he had any loss of sleep, he knew he did.

He took a giant sigh, looking down at the washcloth that was in his hand. There he went again. Cleaning. It seemed that that was all he was doing these days. Too emotional to do anything else. While he was cleaning, he had something to focus on, therefore he didn't have to worry about his mind wondering to more stressful and painful topics. He was glad though, that he didn't have to leave. He didn't want to leave. He loved his family too much. His new family. Not his real family. He loved them, sure, but not like he loved little Lilo and Nani. Jumba of course. He even liked Stitch greatly, despite how he acted towards the little creature. He belonged here. He could wear as many dresses as he his hearts desired and he wouldn't get yelled at, and he loved it.

"Pleakley!" came the voice of Lilo. Pleakley snapped out of his thoughts and looked down to see Lilo looking up at him. Stitch was sitting beside her, in a dog like fashion, also looking up at him.

"Oh, yes, Lilo?" questioned the little alien.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm fine, Lilo" he grabbed the duster that was sitting on the table next to him, dusting the lamp that was also on the table. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I said your name five times and you didn't respond" replied Lilo simply. Pleakley froze, his eye wide. He looked out in front of him, trying to think of a way to explain this. He cleared his throat, trying to act normal as he went back to his dusting.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You must not have been saying loud enough. You kids are listening to music too loudly and ruining your hearing" sputtered Pleakley hesitantly. He started humming a tune, walking away and hoping she would drop the subject. Sadly, she didn't.

"Pleakley, I know something is bothering you and whatever it is I want to help you. You are a part of our o'hana and you're my 'aunty' Pleakley. I can't let something happen to you and not do anything about it!" cried out Lilo, throwing up her arms in an exaggerated way, her eyes wide. She looked up at him, finished, her eyes back to normal, her arms back down at her side. There was silence between the three of them for a little while, everyone just staring at each other.

"Ee gala mijanji!" spoke Stitch, which only earned him a confused look from Pleakley. Seeing this, Stitch continued. "O'hana means family. Family means….no one gets left behind or forgotten. Pleakley no forgotten. We help."

Pleakley smiled, being moved by what they were saying to him. He never had to doubt being loved when it came to Lilo. She was always expressing it. Maybe not in the normal ways, but she did.

He knelt down in front of Lilo, who waited patiently. He chose his words carefully. "Thanks, Lilo. I appreciate it. I'm just going through a rough time right now."

"Une gala! We help!" insisted Stitch, stepping closer. Pleakley nodded, but put a hand up towards his two little friends.

"I know you two want to help, but…I'll figure things out" concluded Pleakley in a voice that softly claimed that he was done discussing it.

"But--!" tried Lilo, watching as Pleakley went to leave. The one eyed alien stopped and looked back.

"If I need help…." he crossed his arms. "I'll come and get you."

Lilo just looked at him as he left the room, a defeated look on her face.

"No help…Bah!" Lilo grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along. She pulled him along until they were in the hallway, all by themselves. She leant in closer to Stitch's long ear, glancing back and forth to see if the coast was clear.

"Stitch, I think something is up with Jumba and Pleakley…" Stitch turned his head to look at her, then nodded once. He turned his head back so his ear was facing her. "You know what to do…"

Stitch nodded once again. "Ih."

------

Electricity buzzed throughout the room, a soft glow making the darkened room light up. Jumba mumbled in Kweltiwaan as he tried to get the wires to work correctly.

At the door was Pleakley, hiding once again, even though he had promised Jumba that he wouldn't. He was doing the same thing. The door was slightly open, just enough so that he could see with his large eye. He wanted, once again, so badly to sit next to Jumba and watch him work, but he knew that would never happen. Jumba had even said so himself. Well, not about getting to watch him work, but about them being together.

His hearts ached just thinking about that conversation. But he knew it was true, and there was nothing he could do about it. Jumba and himself were entirely different species. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how it was impossible for them to be together. So then why did his hearts still ache so much?

Pleakley was about to leave when Jumba spoke up, "Come on in" he told him.

Pleakley's eye widened and dilated, then went to normal. He took a loud gulp and pushed the door open and walked in. "H-Hello…" he squeaked awkwardly.

"You were watching me again" stated Jumba, his voice devoid of any anger. Pleakley read this as a good sign. He nodded, wringing his three fingered hands together.

"Yes…I was….I'm sorry" mumbled Pleakley, looking down to the floor.

"Pull up chair" ordered Jumba, taking a hand and lazily pointing to a forgotten chair in the corner. Pleakley just stood there, having looked at the chair that he was pointing at. He looked at it, as though he never seen one before. He stood there for a moment, as though waiting for an answer. "What are you waiting for?"

Pleakley snapped out of his thoughts, flinching slightly and went for the chair, grabbing it, and carrying it over next to Jumba. He nimbly sat down in the chair, taking deep breaths. He was so close to Jumba, his large thick arm just inches from his own skinny one.

"What are you working on?" questioned Pleakley, finally breaking the awkward silence that had formed between them. Jumba made a gruff sound.

"Eh, just playing around with primitive Earth mechanics. Nothing major…" he shrugged, his deep voice sounding soothing to the little Plorginarian. "I figure, no new experiments unless I build proper machines to help design them."

Pleakley frowned, not liking what he was hearing. "New experiments!?" he jumped up from his seat. "Jumba you're not planning on making more experiments are you!?" He glared at Jumba, furious that just the idea of making more mayhem even crossed the larger alien's mind.

"Sit down!" huffed Jumba, trying his hardest to keep his temper in check. His effeminate friend immediately sat down. Jumba sighed heavily. This was not going as well as he had hoped. Pleakley just sat there and twiddled his six little digits together, both hands shaking slightly out of nerves. He didn't understand any of this. What was Jumba trying to do? What was he trying to say? Feeling the complete need for there to be a conversation, which Jumba obviously wasn't keen on starting, it seemed, Pleakley cleared his throat and awkwardly began one.

"Remember the first time we met, Jumba?" his voice sounded off. It sounded fake. Pleakley couldn't understand it for the life of him. Jumba just sat there for several long moments, still tinkering on the wires he had been working with when he first came in. Pleakley didn't think he was going to answer, possibly because he hadn't heard his question. Jumba did that often. He got so deep into thought and focus that he blocked the rest of the world around him out almost completely.

Just as Pleakley was about to repeat himself, Jumba spoke, "Yes, I remember."

Pleakley nodded, pleased from the response. "Well, so do I, o-of course. I was scared stiff of you…"

Jumba didn't respond, only the cackling of the electricity emitting from the wires in his large hands could be heard. Another long moment of awkward silence went by before Pleakley continued. "I thought…..at the time…you were going to hurt me…When the Grand Councilwoman first left, I watched her go, terrified, thinking you were going to hurt me, because I thought you were furious at the time. C-Cause….." he gulped. He had no idea why it was so hard for him to speak. Was it simply because he knew Jumba was hardly listening to him? Or was it something else?

"I would never hurt you" whispered Jumba gruffly. Pleakley looked up from his hands and blinked at Jumba, his eye wide. Jumba must have sensed Pleakley's shock, even without looking at him, for he continued. "There were times, yes, when you grated on nerves, always getting in the way!" Jumba's voice became louder and with more emphasis. Pleakley looked away at this. "Always making mistakes. 626 would have been easier to capture had you not been there." Pleakley shrunk further down into his chair at these words, feeling crushed. He began to feel miserable when Jumba said at last, "But then, I would not have family here."

Pleakley perked up at this mention, thinking deeply and realizing that was true. Had they not failed so many times to catch Stitch, they would not have been exiled here on Earth, and they would not have met Lilo and Nani, or at least, as well as they had, and Pleakley and Jumba would have went their separate ways again after returning Stitch.

A small smile came over Pleakley's face as he reminisced.

"Love between us cannot happen" Jumba said unexpectedly. His voice held great authority. The topic had changed so quickly that it had caught Pleakley off guard. He had not been expecting it. He blinked several times, replaying in his mind what Jumba had just said. After about the fourth or fifth time he repeated it, it finally sunk in. His hearts seemed to stop, his face falling. Several tears came to his eye. He gulped, trying to calm himself, gulping down his tears, but it didn't work. "Why?" he squeaked. His question went unanswered as the tears betrayed him and fell. Sobs slowly started to wrack his thin body as he sat there in his chair. Pleakley pulled at the front of his orange dress, using it as a tissue and trying to dry away some of his tears.

All the while, Jumba sat there. He had long since stopped fiddling with the wires and was just sitting there, staring out in front of him. He couldn't bring himself to looking at Pleakley. He felt bad enough as it was. He knew Pleakley was crying. He could hear him. He didn't need to see it. Taking a deep breath, he began to explain and answer the question he knew Pleakley wished to know.

"I come from world where there is little emotion. Love is not something that comes easily to my people. We find it to be waste of time most while, because we have so much trouble finding it. We do not know love when we see it. My people have never understood it." He paused, finally looking at Pleakley, who was trying his hardest to control himself. He had stopped crying at this point and was now simply sniffling, a few sobs escaping from time to time. He was listening, Jumba knew that much. His little effeminate friend was taking it harder than he had hoped. He couldn't understand how Pleakley had grown so fond of him. "I tried love. Was young and innocent, long before evil genius days…..I thought I would be fortunate enough to find pretty girl. I was wrong. It wasn't till after I started making experiments did I meet ex-wife. It was alright at first, but it died quickly. Arguments. Shouting. It was bad. I hated it. Is why I left it. Kweltiwaans are rough, barbaric race, as you may or may not have seen in me. I have temper, sure, who doesn't? But I tell you now, you have not seen my true temper." Pleakley tensed at this, looking up, his eye red and dilated from his crying. He cringed ever so slightly as he thought about this last statement Jumba said. The thought of Jumba's temper being any worse than he has already seen scared him greatly.

"Ah, see? Just thinking of that makes you scared…." his voice sounded like a slightly crushed and sad. A thought occurred to Jumba. It would change the subject a bit, but he wanted to know. "Why are you so scared of telling girls and 626 of your feelings for me, eh?"

Pleakley had finally gotten over his tears and was now just looking sullen in his chair. He looked over at Jumba, since his gaze had shifted to the floor at some point. "I…just don't…" he shrugged. He hoped Jumba would drop the subject. He shivered, but he knew he wasn't cold.

"Come now, better answer than that…." Jumba pushed.

Pleakley sighed. "I just don't want them to know!" he cried out.

"No need to get upset…."

Pleakley shook his head. He gulped once again. "I'm afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of what they'll think of me…"

"Why?"

Pleakley sniffles a bit before replying. "My…..family never accepted me…" This made Jumba give him a curious look. He remembered when Pleakley's mother, sister, and brother had come down to visit, thinking Pleakley was getting married to Nani. It had been a disaster, but he was under the impression that everything had turned out fine. He did not know what Pleakley was talking about. His family had said nasty things to him, but his experiment, 323, or Fibber, as Lilo had dubbed him, had buzzed and announced that they had all been lying to Pleakley's face. Now though, Pleakley was saying that his family never accepted him, when it had seemed as though they had when they were visiting.

"I do not understand…" Jumba admitted to the Plorginarian.

Pleakley nodded, for he hadn't expected Jumba to. "It was obvious I was different…Even when I was little. I always feared my family. I loved them, sure, but feared them, because they knew I was different, and never let me forget it. Pixley and Bertley would always tease me to no end. They laughed at me!" Pleakley looked like he was on the verge of tears again, but he never cried. He seemed to calm down, his face looking more calm. "But that's not what really bothered me. It was the fact that my mom knew very well that I was different….that I was….the way I am, and yet she didn't do anything about it. In fact, she tried changing me. I didn't want that. I still don't. I told my mother, when she was here, that I was happy. I'm not. Not really. But I want to be…. I just want to be happy." With that he stood, plastering a smile on his face, wiping away the last of his tears and started humming once again. He got rid of some of the wrinkles in his dress and went out the door before Jumba could stop him.

The Kweltiwaan just sat there, staring after his little friend, knowing that things weren't getting any better.

--------

The sun was starting to set when Jumba walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he found Nani, Lilo, Stitch, and Pleakley sitting at the kitchen table. Lilo and Nani were playing some sort of a game that Jumba was unfamiliar with. He was not accustomed to all Earthling games and had yet to learn them all, or at least hear about them. It looked as though they were playing with some little pieces of paper with designs on them. Pleakley and Stitch were simply watching with awe as the two sisters played each other. It was at that moment that Nani gave out a defeated cry and fell back into her chair. She then laughed.

"Well, Lilo, it looks like you beat me again!" she called out. Lilo had, by this point, stood up on her chair and raised her arms high up in the air, whooping in her victory.

"Whoo!" Lilo crowed. "I win! Haha! I beat you for the second time in a row, Nani!" she pointed at her sister, who, despite having just lost, looked rather smug.

"That might be true Lilo, but I beat you four times in a row before you started beating me. So what does that tell you?" she pointed out dutifully, her arms crossed over her chest. Nani was sounding as though she was bragging or boasting, but her expression was soft. It was a typical sister moment.

"What silly Earth game is this?" Jumba couldn't help but ask them as he continued to watch them. Everyone looked up to see the new addition to the room, smiling. Pleakley scooted over so that there was room at the table for him to sit down, but Jumba could tell by his expression he wasn't in the mood to talk. He was simply being polite. For whatever reason, Jumba felt an usual stab of pain in his chest at this. It didn't make any sense to him. It made him frown, but he had no other time to put much thought into it, for Nani had started speaking to him.

"Oh, we're just playing cards. We play it every now and then" replied Nani conversationally. She pointed to the cards before her. "You give yourself several cards and place one down along with your opponent. Whichever card is higher, wins." Her small explanation didn't explain to them all that much, but it gave them the general idea.

Pleakley took this moment to grab Nani's cards and hold them out in front of him, fanning them out. "It's fascinating, isn't it?" he beamed. "I find it thrilling that such a game would be invented."

Jumba had heard of this game before, he was just not aware that Earthlings knew it as well. He was surprised that Pleakley had never heard of the game. Or at least, he sure was acting as though he had never heard of it before. Surely they had card games at him home planet.

Stitch, who was bored in his chair, grabbed Lilo's cards and sniffed them. Before Lilo could say anything against it, Stitch tossed the cards in his open mouth and ate them. "Stitch!" cried out Nani. "That was our only pack of cards!"

Stitch looked at her, his black eyes wide and curious. He burped, which made Nani roll her eyes in annoyance. Jumba couldn't help but chuckle at Stitch's antics.

"626 may no longer be evil, but he still has a troublesome side…" his deep voice was filled with amusement. Lilo turned around in her chair to look up at Jumba, since she was sitting right in front of him. Pleakley was sitting on her right, Nani across from her, and Stitch to her left. "Nele goojibink!" cried Stitch a moment later, which gained back Lilo's attention. Stitch was pointing at the clock. He knew what time it was. It was getting time for supper. Nani looked up at the clock and gave a large sigh of exasperation.

"Yes! I know, its time for supper!" she stood, then addressed Pleakley, who was still fiddling with the cards on the table. "Pleakley, I thought you were going to cook tonight."

Pleakley seemed to snap out of his thoughts, immediately standing up, dropping the cards, and nearly making the chair fall over. "Oh! That's right! I was" he clutched his head for a moment. "Oooh, I had such a wonderful idea for dinner, but now I seemed to have lost it!!" He started walking about the kitchen, his three legs taking him this way and that. Everyone else just watched him with shock, not knowing what to think of his behavior.

Lilo then tore her eyes off of Pleakley and his moment of insanity and turned around to face Jumba. Jumba looked down to find her staring at him, having been able to sense her stare. Her face was emotionless as she looked at him, but Jumba felt unnerved by it. He had no idea what she was doing or why she was looking at him, but it made him uneasy. It made him feel guilty, almost. He blinked. She cocked her head to one side, Pleakley's cries of not knowing what to do in the background of their staring contest. Jumba looked away, being unable to look at Lilo anymore, which made his mind all the more frazzled. He didn't understand what had just happened and perhaps he didn't want to know. Lilo finally looked away and sat back down properly in her chair, facing Pleakley once again.

By this point, Nani had stood up and grabbed Pleakley by the shoulders and tried calming him down. "Pleakley! Get a grip! It's okay! I'll make dinner tonight. You can make it tomorrow! It's no big deal!" Pleakley, who had stopped fussing and was now standing there, ramrod straight, just looked at her with his eye wide.

"Ummm….Okay. I'm sorry, Nani. I don't know what happened there…" he shook off her hands from his shoulders and walked back over to his chair, starting to fiddle with the cards again. Nani watched him carefully for another moment before turning to the stove, where she began to get pots and pans out and ready to be used.

Jumba took Nani's empty seat at the table, having nothing else to do. He played with his large fingers, twiddling them about, listening as Lilo told them all about her day at school and hula class. He wasn't listening. He was watching Pleakley. The little Plorginarian's attention was on Lilo as he sat there and listened to her story about her day.

Stitch was still making gargling and burping noises from when he ate the cards, only half listening. He had been with Lilo most of the day and therefore already knew what happened. And the times he wasn't with her he had already been told by her, for they were together all the time. Lilo and Pleakley had at some point stood up to help Nani cook supper, so Jumba and Stitch's side of the kitchen was to themselves.

"Naga une ginjibabka?" Stitch asked Jumba after a while.

Jumba regarded Stitch's question. "You wish to know what _**I**_ did today?"

"Ih."

Jumba took in a deep breath. He was doing that a lot it seemed. "Oh, just usual stuff. Fiddle with scientific equipment. Clean desk area. Make plans for new experiment ideas…" Stitch nodded at his answer.

"Ginji maka glessta twala Pleakley!!" he nearly shouted at his creator. Jumba blinked.

"What?" blinked Jumba. All four of his eyes blinked at different times.

"You heard me…" whispered Stitch.

"No such thing! I have done no such thing!" defended Jumba defiantly. "You have no reason to believe that!" Stitch pointed at Pleakley, who's back was facing them as he cleaned a dish in the sink. Lilo was up on her little stool, ready to dry whatever Pleakley was cleaning. Jumba followed his gaze and saw that Pleakley was rubbing at his eye every now and then, which looked slightly more pinkish than usual. Jumba was in awestruck. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from his own experiment.

"I haven't…no….I would never…" he stuttered. It wasn't often that the ex evil genius was at a loss for words, but this was one of those times. He watched as Pleakley helped Nani with cooking, then switch over to help Lilo cut the vegetables so that they could have a salad before their meal. He regained his composure and glared down at Stitch. "So, that is what you think?"

"Ih" started Stitch with a nod firmly.

"You are wrong. I would never do that to him."

"Prove it" challenged Stitch. Jumba grunted angrily at this. He shouldn't have to prove anything. His word alone should be good enough.

"I have never hurt him" Jumba sneered evenly, leaning in closer to Stitch. Stitch just gave him that evil glare he gave whenever he knew something. That mischievous grin that Jumba usually loved. This time, he was not as thrilled to see it. Stitch hopped down from his chair and went off into the living room, leaving Jumba there to wonder what was going on in his creation's devious little mind. It unnerved him that Stitch would even think that he had hurt Pleakley in any way. Especially physically. Somehow Stitch must have gotten it in his head that he was hurting Pleakley, but why would he think that?

Pleakley had finished helping Lilo and was now just standing by, watching the two girls get to work in getting supper ready. He paced between the two of them, glancing at everything they did, taking it all in. He had a curious smile on his face, one that showed he was fascinated in what they were doing.

Jumba never would know what was so exciting about cooking. But it made Pleakley happy and that was all that mattered.

Pleakley smiled down as he watched Lilo cut the rest of the carrots. She was doing it exactly as he had taught her to. "Are you happy, Pleakley?"

Pleakley blinked at this question, a smile on his face as he helped her cut the carrots, his hand over hers. "Happy cutting carrots?"

Lilo giggled. "No! I mean, are you happy here with us?"

Pleakley didn't even need to think about that answer. He knew it by hearts. "Of course I am, Lilo! I've never been happier! I belong here. I'm very happy!"

Lilo beamed at his response, but it quickly faded it a serious frown. "How are things with you and Jumba?" Pleakley stiffened at this new question, which Lilo noticed. "Pleakley?"

"What do you mean by that? Things are great between us!" chided Pleakley, letting her go off on her own and work with the carrots. Nani reached over across them to grab a bowl, then went back to getting the mashed potatoes made a ways over on the counter.

"Are you sure? You seem so sad and depressed lately. I was just hoping things weren't rough between you two…" Lilo said quietly. Her voice sounded sad and pensive. Pleakley stopped what he was doing and leaned down slightly. He grabbed her wrists gently and made her stop cutting carrots. He placed the knife down and turned her towards him. He then gave her a sweet little hug, which she returned happily. When they broke apart, Pleakley had a gentle smile on his face. "I'm okay, Lilo. Things are good between us. I'm very happy.."

Lilo would have thought this was a great sign, but sadly, she could still see the tiny hint of sadness in Pleakley's face and eye.

----

Dinner was a silent event. There was little to no talking, which was technically how dinner was supposed to be, but when it came to this family, it rarely happened. Pleakley and Jumba were not speaking to each other, not even looking at each other for that matter. Nani seemed to be the only one oblivious to this. Stitch and Lilo kept watching Jumba and Pleakley like hawks and the two aliens tried to ignore them at all costs, thinking of the conversations they'd had separately with the two of them. Neither of them knew that they were both being haunted by Lilo and Stitch.

Deep inside though, Pleakley just wanted things to be over with and done. He wished that he had never said anything to Jumba, then it would still be his silent little battle. But no. He just had to go and open his large mouth as always. He ruined everything it seemed.

About an hour later, when dinner was officially over, Nani was the first one to get up from the table and went to start cleaning up. This left the other four to sit there, unsure of what to say. None of them wished to speak to one another, for they were all in their deep thoughts. Lilo and sitting closer to Stitch than usual, but Pleakley and Jumba weren't sitting any closer than normal. This fact didn't go past either of the best friends as they sat there. Jumba was playing with what was left on his plate, a book in his one hand which he had gotten before supper. Pleakley was just sitting there, his hands in his lap, staring at his empty plate, having eaten everything. It had amazed everyone that the thinnest member of the household had eaten every bite. That was odd in itself.

Pleakley finally excused himself after five minutes of silence between all four of them, unable to handle it anymore. He stood briskly and mumbled something about going upstairs to their room, before exiting the kitchen. Lilo and Stitch were soon gone as well, leaving Jumba there with his book. Not that he minded. He needed some peace after a dinner like that.

Lilo walked into the elevator that led to her room, Stitch right behind her. Once they were safely in her room, where they knew no one would be able to eavesdrop for whatever reason, she began to speak, "So, what did you get?"

"Hmmm…." thought Stitch, replaying the conversation with Jumba he had had earlier. "Neba! Naga googiba swelay! Naga Pleakley gala!"

Lilo nodded. "Interesting…" she began to pace. "So he denied everything?"

"Ih." "Pleakley insisted that everything was fine between them and that he was very happy. He said that several times, as thought he really wanted me to believe him…" She stared at Stitch, who was watching her carefully. "Stitch, I think something is happening between them. I don't know what it is. If Jumba isn't hurting Pleakley on purpose…." she shook her head. "Pleakley is unhappy, I know he is! I've seen his looks. He's not himself and we both know it has something to do with Jumba! We just have to figure out what it is!" she declared, raising her fist in the air. Stitch did the same thing.

"Ih!" he cried.


	5. Chapter 5

Deep Inside

Chapter 5

The rain poured down on the house heavily and evenly in the later part of the afternoon. Lilo had since then come home from school and hula class and was now hanging around the house, having nothing else to do since it was raining. The thought of going out to look for experiments did cross her mind, seeing as how it was raining, and the chances of them getting wet was higher, she decided that one day without doing it would be alright. She went out searching for them every day and it could get tiring at times. Plus, she didn't want to go out into the rain.

She walked into the living room and saw that Jumba was sitting on the couch, reading a book of some kind. She didn't bother trying to figure out what book it was, as she usually did.

A yelp of fear was suddenly heard after a loud crash of thunder boomed outside. Jumba looked up from his book with a roll of his eyes. He looked down at Lilo, who looked back. "Pleakley is scared of thunder. He hates it."

"Oh…" nodded Lilo with wide eyes, understanding what her Plorginarian friend was yelling for.

"Hey!! You little monster!! Give that back!!" the sudden shout from Pleakley caught both of them off guard. What caught them even more off guard was the sudden banging and clanking that could be heard, which could only have meant that something hard fell to the floor. Several hard things. Jumba glanced up at the ceiling, being able to hear Stitch grunt and cry out in his alien tongue as he teased Pleakley.

It was common knowledge that Pleakley was not the biggest fan of Stitch, therefore, the blue experiment often tormented him in all sorts of ways just for the pleasure of doing so. The other members of the ohana had tried to make Stitch stop, but it was useless. There was then another loud clank of something hitting the floor, followed by an appalled cry from Pleakley.

"_**You broke it!!" **_shrieked Pleakley from upstairs.

Stitch's alien tongue could be heard. "Ali quea umba!!" Stitch's voice sounded apologetic now. Then there was silence.

Lilo took her eyes off the ceiling and sighed. "I've told Stitch not to bother him.." she sighed.

Jumba looked back down from the ceiling, shaking his head. "Does not sound good." Moments after he said that, Stitch appeared from the way of the stairs, looking frazzled, his fur messed up from the obvious fight from upstairs.

Lilo walked up to him just as he shook out his fur and stood. He gave a curious look. "Stitch, I thought I told you not to bother him!" she scolded. Stitch shrugged and muttered something in his alien language before scampering off. Jumba chuckled, making Lilo look at him. "What? What did he say?"

After chuckling for another moment, Jumba controlled himself so that he could answer. "626 claims that Pleakley started it." Lilo just looked at the ex-evil genius and sighed. Just as she was about to head for the kitchen to get a bite to eat, Pleakley walked down the stairs and into the living room, looking nonplussed. He was wearing a deep magenta sleeveless dress and his short brown wig. He crossed his arms and just stood there, looking about the room as though the room itself would take away his annoyance.

"Something wrong?" Jumba asked without looking up from his book.

Pleakley, who was to the right of Jumba and the couch, looked at him. "Oh, yes. Something is wrong. Lots of things are wrong, in fact! The current thing that is wrong, is your little monster!!" he hissed.

"Hmp! Which one? I have many little monsters" Jumba responded with slight mockery in his deep Russian voice. This didn't seem to help Pleakley's mood in the least.

"You know perfectly well which one I'm talking about!" he was now tapping two of his feet in aggravation. Lilo, who was still standing in the doorway that lead to the kitchen, watched them carefully before speaking up.

"You mean Stitch?" she inquired innocently. Pleakley turned his attention on her. "What did he do? We could hear you two upstairs."

"You want to know what he did? You want to know? He wrecked the inside of my closet! That's what he did! The entire closet is a mess and many things ruined thanks to him! AND! My bottle of hairspray is broken!"

"But Pleakley…You don't have hair…" spoke Lilo awkwardly, trying not to rude or to offend him. Pleakley seemed offended either way, for his lower lip protruded a bit as he gave a slight pout.

"I have wigs." His voice was tight, as though he was admitting something he didn't want to. He fluffed at the current wig he was wearing. "And sometimes they need fixed up and pampered."

"Or you is just being bored on Saturday afternoon and having nothing else better to be doing then messing with silly wigs" offered Jumba, looking up from his book and at the two of them. Pleakley turned and looked at Jumba, a look of hurt and anger on his face. Jumba saw this and went back to his book, knowing he shouldn't have said that.

Pleakley turned back to Lilo and nodded.

"So, yes, that is why I use hairspray" he concluded as though the brief emotional blow had not just taken place. But Lilo saw. Pleakley's back head been facing her, so she couldn't tell for sure, but she was possible that Pleakley hadn't liked Jumba's comment. She nodded with a smile, honestly not finding a reason for fixing up his wigs to be a bad thing.

"That makes sense" she agreed with him gingerly with another smile and nod. Pleakley seemed pleased at this and walked past her and into the kitchen.

"Um…Little girl…?" spoke up Jumba before Lilo was able to walk out of the room. Lilo perked up as he spoke. He rarely called her by her actual name, so she had quickly gotten used to being addressed by 'little girl'.

"Yeah, Uncle Jumba?" she inquired curiously with a tilt of her head. 'Uncle Jumba' was the common way she addressed Jumba instead of just simple, 'Jumba'.

Jumba sat there for a moment, setting the book he had been reading to the side and debating which way to say what he had to say. He wanted the words to come out right. "Has…emm….has 626 been acting any more odd than usual?"

Lilo just blinked at him. She had not been expecting that kind of a question. She shook her head, her long black hair moving slowly with it. "No….he hasn't. Why do you ask, Uncle Jumba? Is there something wrong with him?" All four of Jumba's eyes blinked at different times at her response as he propped himself up on the couch's arm. He shook his head. "No….nothing is wrong with him. I was just checking. Evil genius creator gets worried about 626 every now and then, see? Chasing after all my other creations and wreaking havoc any chance he gets…."

"Stitch doesn't wreak havoc" Lilo pointed out.

"Ha! That is what you be thinking!" chuckled Jumba. He grabbed the book which he had previously set aside and stood, intending to save the rest of his reading for another time. Lilo watched him for another few moments before heading toward her original destination: the kitchen.

------------

Jumba sighed as he opened the door to the bedroom in which he shared with Pleakley. As he suspected, the little one-eyed alien was attempted to clean up the mess in his closet that Stitch had made earlier.

Clothes that belonged to the smaller alien were being tossed backwards, blindly, as Pleakley fought through the mess. It appeared that everything had fallen off the hangers that Pleakley had placed all of the clothes on, so every now and then, Jumba would dodge a piece of a hanger, which Stitch had obviously broken in his tirade. He was about to open his mouth and say something when something slammed right into his face. Jolted out of his thoughts, Jumba flinched ever so slightly and brought up a hand to quickly remove it from his face. He looked at it and found that it was a dress. A little navy blue dress with quarter sleeves. Jumba regarded it for a moment, trying to remember if he had ever seen Pleakley wear it, but then shook his head. What did it matter? He dropped it and continued to take a few steps forward, closer to the oblivious Pleakley. He was still tossing things back as he tried to clear out the closet. It was obvious that Pleakley was planning to organize and clean out the closet by scratch by taking everything out and starting there. Jumba found this method to be a bit more work than was needed, but then again, he was an evil genius who thought that tossing everything aside and letting it fall where it wanted was clean.

Pleakley finally stood up straight, having been leaning over the entire time. He wiped his hands together, obviously proud of his work, then turned around. When his eye landed on Jumba he squeaked and jumped a bit, startled. A hand over his chest, Pleakley breathed heavily, trying to calm himself from then shock. "You scared me!"

"I am sorry…." Jumba mumbled, his eyes scanning the floor. "You have too many clothes…" Pleakley seemed to pout at this as he crossed his arms. He waited for Jumba to continue and seeing this, Jumba did so. "I am just saying….This is a lot to wear for just you alone…"

"Some of this is Nani's….." muttered Pleakley, not looking at all thrilled.

"Ah…" nodded Jumba, not knowing what else to say to that.

"Look, did you just come up here to poke fun at me, or…?" hissed Pleakley, looking as though he was struggling to keep his emotions in check.

Jumba shook his head. "No…That is not why I be coming up here. I came up to see what you were doing…"

Pleakley seemed taken aback by this answer, but kept it well hidden. He was in an unusual calm mood, which didn't happen often with him. Jumba had only seen it a few rare times himself and found it to be quite unsettling. He didn't understand the little alien at times like this. Just when he thought he understood Pleakley and knew everything about it, Pleakley went and changed the rules on him by changing something or doing something he didn't think he would do.

"I'm cleaning the closet, which your little monster destroyed! Look at all this!" he motioned his arms out to the floor, which couldn't be seen now thanks to all of his clothes. "I now have all this work to do…" His voice broke as he looked away. Pleakley looked up at Jumba, his eye tearing up ever so slightly. He saw the look of concern in Jumba's eyes, but ignored it. It didn't matter. Jumba had already said no to him. Why get his own hopes up that there was still a possibility that he would change his mind?

As he thought this, he gave out a whimper. He sniffed a bit and walked to the door, pushing past Jumba as he did so. The larger alien just watched him go by, dumbfounded.

As Pleakley descended the stairs, he walked past Lilo, who now had a bowl of ice cream in her hands. She looked up at him, prepared to greet him happily but stopped short when she saw that he was crying. "Pleakley, what's wrong?' she asked in a deeply concerned voice. Pleakley jumped at her voice, having not noticed her.

"Oh…Lilo…." he quickly dried his tears, knowing that this time he wouldn't be able to hide anything. He knew very well that Lilo had seen him crying and still could, for he couldn't make the tears stop. He didn't understand it. Nothing had even happened between them and yet this was his reaction? All Jumba had done was walk in and ask him what he was doing. After making fun of him and his enormous amount of earthling women's clothes. Pleakley whimpered a bit, which made Lilo all the more anxious as she continued to stand there and watch him. As she waited for his answer, her eyes drifted down to his arm, which was in a position which only a creature with no bones could make.

There, faintly on his arm, close to his wrist, was a discoloration. Pleakley's skin color was a soft green, but that spot was a darker shade of green, one that Lilo had never seen on him. It then dawned on her. The same thing happened to her from time to time. It was a bruise! She was brought out of her thoughts as she heard Pleakley whimper again, trying to calm down.

"I'm sorry, Lilo, but I'm not in the mood to play" he said airily as he rubbed at his eye. His comment struck her as odd, seeing as how she hadn't even asked him to play to begin with and had just been walking past him on the stairs. She cocked her head to one side, the bowl of ice cream slowly melting in her bowl.

Pleakley then walked by without giving Lilo another glance, knowing that cleaning was the only thing that would save him now. Lilo watched him go, her face filled with puzzlement and curiosity. Now she knew for a fact that something was going on. First, Pleakley was crying and second, he had a bruise on his arm. She walked up the rest of the stairs and peaked inside Jumba and Pleakley's room. As she suspected, there sat Jumba on his bunk bed, reading the book he had been reading earlier. Lilo's eyes widened as her young mind grasped what was going on. She and Stitch had suspected there being a rough time between Jumba and Pleakley, but never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined it to be true! "Poor Pleakley!" gasped Lilo quietly as she started heading down the stairs. She took the spoon that had been sitting there in the bowl and mindlessly started eating little spoonfuls of her ice cream, her mind focused on this new information.

She went up the elevator that led into her room. When she arrived, she found that Stitch looking at his "Good Meter" which was the doodle of him which showed how good he's been lately. When he heard her come in, he put it down with a smile and turned around, having been facing the other way. He walked up to her, eyeing her ice cream.

"Iseeba?" he asked her. When he didn't get a response his ears dropped, wondering what was going on. "Lilo?"

Lilo blinked, coming out of her thoughts. She put the bowl of ice cream on the floor, which Stitch couldn't help but look at hungrily for a moment before turning his attention of her again. "Stitch…." she began. Stitch's attention was completely on her now. "I have the evidence that proves our theory….."

"Ooohh?" Stitch sat, listening.

Lilo nodded. "I walked past Pleakley on the stairs just now….He was crying….And he couldn't seem to talk, he was all gushy and mushy over his crying. And I saw it."

"Ah? Une goonjabi?" questioned Stitch, on edge.

"A bruise…" Lilo said this in a very heartbroken voice, a low whisper. Her expression contained full sadness the more the concept sunk in. She looked away. Stitch saw how much this was bothering her and pulled her into a hug. He hated seeing Lilo upset. He liked seeing her happy and energetic, ready to play Monsters & Zombies.

"Goojinka naga inka" he told her, brushing some of her black hair out of her face and giving her a hug. She willingly accepted it. When they pulled away, Stitch saw that she now looked angry.

"I just can't believe Jumba would do that!" she hollered, the thought of her Uncle Jumba hurting Pleakley being unbearable. Stitch nodded aggressively. Though he found it hard to truly be angry towards Jumba, considering the large alien was his creator. Though he loved to tease his creator to no end, as he did while he had been chased by them and watched. Stitch would always feel a sense of respect towards Jumba and found it to be an odd feeling.

Lilo sighed, her anger leaving her as she looked about her room. She wasn't entirely sure how to think about this situation. Even though she had seen the proof on Pleakley's arm, there was a voice in her head that was still loudly arguing against what she was thinking. She blinked out of her thoughts when she heard the opening and closing of cupboards and cabinets from downstairs in the kitchen and knew immediately that Pleakley had begun cleaning again. She knew him well enough to know, especially just after another one of his crying fits. The resistant little voice in her head was also saying that maybe Pleakley was just overreacting. But then, where did that bruise come from?

----------

The table that sat next to the couch near the wall was now completely dusted and free of dust, along with the rest of the furniture in the living room. Vacuuming the carpets was to be his next job, since he knew that the last time he had cleaned them had been the day before. Pleakley sighed as he thought this, standing up straight since he had been leaving over his Clean Sweep 3000 vacuum cleaner. There was no reason to vacuum them two days in a row. Even in a household where experiments of an evil genius arrived all the time, the carpets didn't get that dirty that quickly. Besides, as he had learned, there is such a thing as being too clean.

He dropped the plug to the vacuum before plugging it in, knowing there was no use in bothering. He pulled at the cord and bundled it up, wrapping it in its proper place around the vacuum. He rolled it away and into the closet that was in the hallway across the elevator to Lilo's room. He rubbed at his eye as he shut the door and turned the golden doorknob to it.

Why did things have to be so difficult? Why couldn't he just be happy? That was all he wanted. Was he asking too much? Pleakley walked back down the hall and towards the living room and kitchen area, fiddling his hands in the little pink, frilly apron he had on over his sleeveless magenta dress. Back on Plorginar he had never fit in. At least here on Earth he could wear all the dresses he wanted, even with wigs and makeup as a bonus. He had to admit, when he first came to Earth, those two bits of his disguise had been new to him. Despite the few rare times he had managed to try on his mother's lipstick or Pixley's eye liner, he had never really worn make-up before. But years of spying on his mother and sister as they applied their makeup at taught him the basics of applying it and over time, had become a pro. Wigs were something that Pleakley had never come in contact with back home in his childhood, since they were not nearly as easy to find as they are on Earth.

Pleakley walked into the kitchen, where Nani was hunched over the counter looking out of a cookbook. Judging by what she was doing, Pleakley could only guess that she was planning on trying to cook something new for supper that night. It was no where near supper time, but plans had to made early if they wanted to be carried out.

"Hi, Nani…" he mumbled as he walked up to the sink. Nani glanced over to her left, where the sink was, and saw his depressed state.

"Hi Pleakley." She did a double take, seeing his depressed expression. "Hey, you okay?" she asked. Her voice was filled with concern, but the look in her eyes told him that she had a lot on her mind, such as supper.

Pleakley knew she was only asking to be polite and that she hoped to just go back to searching through the book, so he nodded with a lopsided smile. "I'm alright…" He let the subject drop, turning away and giving her the hint that it was not a topic he was willing to continue on. Nani either seemed to catch the hint or she honestly didn't notice just how upset he was, but she pulled down her orange top a bit more, crossed her left leg over the other and leaned closer to the book on the counter, her chin propped up on one of her hands as her elbow was on the counter.

Grabbing a plate, Pleakley turned on the hot water and clogged the sink with the stopper so that the sink would fill up. He grabbed the little bottle of dishwashing liquid and poured some into the warm water.

"_Love cannot happen between us…" _Jumba's words cut through Pleakley's thoughts like a knife, which made the little alien nearly drop the bowl he had grabbed from the countertop beside him. He lower lip quivered a bit as he thought about the conversation that had broken both his hearts. He closed his eye tightly, his grip on the bowl tightening as he tried to push away his thoughts.

"_I come from world where there is little emotion. Love is not something that comes easily to my people. We find it to be waste of time most while, because we have so much trouble finding it." _rang more of Jumba's words through his head. He forced himself not to cry. He was cleaning, and cleaning always made him feel better. He pulled out a wash cloth and roughly pushed the bowl into the steaming hot water, oblivious to just how hot the water was. The water was now all soapy and filled with soap suds. He took the washcloth in his other free hand and started rubbing away at the bowl, getting off all the old food that was on it from the last time it was used. _"I tried love. Was young and innocent, long before evil genius days…..I thought I would be fortunate enough to find pretty girl. I was wrong." _

Pleakley bit back a sob. He glanced over at Nani, wondering if she had noticed his behavior, but her nose was still deep inside the cookbook. He focused his attention on cleaning the bowl, which he'd been cleaning for the last several minutes. It was very much clean, but this he didn't seem to notice. He was cleaning. Yes, cleaning. Cleaning made him feel happy. It made him feel accomplished. Then why was he still feeling so miserable!? Cleaning was supposed to make him feel better. Why wasn't it making him feel better!? Pleakley frowned as he looked down at the bowl, half hidden in the soapy water. Tears came to his eye as he began to tremble with both anger and devastation. His hands were both on the bowl now, turning white near the spot where his knuckles would be if he had bones.

"_Little one….You know better…" _Those had been Jumba's words when he had first told him. Pleakley gave out a strangled cry, closing his eye shut. The bowl in his hand trembled along with it and in his outcry he had raised both arms and slammed them back towards the sink, where the bowl hit and shattered. At the sound of the bowl breaking, Pleakley cried out once more, stepping backwards, nearly tripping, and fell back into the one of the kitchen chairs, where he missed the seat and fell to the floor, the chair falling over from the sudden movement and clambering to the floor.

Nani jolted in shock, jumping at the sound of the bowl breaking, then looking over just in time to see Pleakley fall backwards into the chair, which he missed and watching the chair also collapse on its side. She rushed over to Pleakley, who was on the floor, shaking with emotion, kicking his three legs, his hands balled into small fists. His eye was shut tight and he seemed oblivious to the world around him. All he could think about was what Jumba had said to him about the two of them being a couple. All he saw was Jumba standing there before him, mocking him and his large amount of clothes, or the expression he had had on his face when he explained to him that they couldn't be together. What was even more painful was the flashes of Jumba's smiles and friendly gestures he's given Pleakley in the past. And of course, all he could hear was Jumba's hard cold facts and reasons why they couldn't be together. Their same sex, their different races, their differences…. It was all too much for the small Plorginarian.

Nani was now crouched beside Pleakley, just far enough so that she wasn't on the receiving end of one of Pleakley's out of control fists. She tried to calm him down by shushing him and saying kind words in a soothing tone. But none of this seemed to get through to Pleakley.

"Pleakley? Calm down….please….Everything's alright. I'm here. Just tell me what's wrong!" she tried desperately, hoping to get through to him. She had no idea what could have happened to make him act like this. She has known Pleakley for quite some time now and she had learned that Pleakley was very emotional and effeminate. But nothing like this.

But Pleakley wasn't listening as he struggled with himself and his mind on the floor. At last he cried out. "It's not fair!!!" he wailed, shoving his fists to the linoleum floor. He soon found this to be a bad idea as it killed his hands. He rubbed at them, tears falling down the sides of his face.

Nani took this as a good time to advance in calming him down. On her knees, she tried grabbing one of his hands, when he whipped it away. He finally opened his eye and looked at her and the look he gave her made Nani freeze. She had seen that look before. She had seen it on her own face once before, just minus the tears. It was a look of desperate heartbreak. She had seen the look on her own face after taking Lilo back home just after Cobra Bubbles had informed her that he would be taking Lilo away. She had told Lilo to go upstairs to change and she then walked into the bathroom. She had looked into the mirror and her face held desperate heartbreak. Even after all that trying. Even after all those job interviews and trying to get any kind of job with an income, she had failed. And then her only sister, her only family, would be taken away. Nani knew that expression well.

She recoiled a bit, giving Pleakley more space. At this, Pleakley quickly stood up, still crying and managed to say, "Sorry about the bowl" in a strangled voice before rushing out of the kitchen. Nani watched him go, slowly standing up, feeling numb. She had no idea what was going on with her alien housemate, but she knew that whatever it was, was tearing poor Pleakley apart.

--------------------

Lilo was just walking back down the stairs, an empty bowl of ice cream in her hands when a green and magenta blur suddenly ran past her. She was able to hear sobs coming from whatever the blob was and before she had any time to comprehend anything else, she heard the back door to the house slam shut.

A moment later, Stitch walked up from behind her, his expression being just as confused as hers was. "Kankiba?" he asked her, her black eyes focused on her as he stepped in front of her, waving one of his little blue hands at her. "Lilo?"

Lilo blinked. "What was that?" Her gaze was on the back door.

"Slave zombie" suggested Stitch, suddenly a few feet away from her and acting like a mindless zombie, his arms reached out in front of him, taking large wide steps and swaying back and forth. Lilo watched him as he played zombie, a smile forming on her lips.

"Yeah….maybe… I'll have to make sure that the popcorn is safely put away. We wouldn't want them getting the prize now would we?" she grinned. Stitch stopped pretending to be a zombie, now standing normally and nodded.

"Ih. And coffee!" he cried out, raising his arms up in the air.

Lilo looked at him sternly. "No Stitch. No coffee."

Stitch deflated, his arms sagging to the floor. He pouted and continued to do so all the way into the kitchen. As she walked in, she found Nani at the sink, picking up little pieces of porcelain from the bowl Pleakley had dropped. She titled her head to the side. "Did the zombie terrorize the kitchen?" she inquired, looking up at her sister. Before she could get an answer, she turned to Stitch. "Maybe we're too late!" she gasped. Stitch's eyes widened at the idea, his ears going up as he covered his mouth with both hands.

Nani shook her head, confused. "Zombies? What are you talking about Lilo? There were no zombies in here!"

Lilo sighed clearly disappointed at this bit of news. Stitch mirrored her reaction. "Then who was it that I saw running past me and out the back door?"

Nani collected a bunch of pieces of the broken bowl and threw it into the waste basket, which was underneath the sink. When she straightened up, she wiped at her hands and looked down at Lilo. "That was Pleakley…" her voice sounded weak.

"Pleakley?"

"Yes….Something's wrong. He's upset. I--I was--" she motioned to the counter, over where her cookbook was still at. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she was able to get out the right words. "I was….I was just standing here, trying to think of something for supper, when he came in….started doing the dished…I thought nothing of it. And next thing I know, he's sobbing, he threw down the bowl in the sink, fell backwards and was on the floor." She paused to point to where Pleakley had landed. "The chair fell over. I tried calming him down, but he wouldn't have it, so I guess he ran out back…" After her explanation, all Nani could do was look down at the ground sadly.

"Do you know what upset him?" ventured Lilo after a moment of silence. Nani shook her head.

"I have no idea. Do you?"

Lilo and Stitch both exchanged looks. "Ih." nodded Stitch.

Lilo looked back up at her sister, fiddling with her hands in front of her. "I think so…Or at least…." she looked over at Stitch. "Stitch and I have a hunch…"

-----------------

The wind was blowing softly outside, passing through the palm trees and making the early afternoon very calm and peaceful. The torches that surrounded that little hammock outside the Pelekai household on the hill were currently unlit, not going to be lit until later. The hammock itself was swinging gently in the wind, its small passenger curled up into a tight ball.

Pleakley was laying on his side, his small snake-like body curled in an odd way, his three legs drawn closer to his upper body. His arms were around his three knees, his antennae drooped to the side of his head. He stared out in front of himself, his eye red from his recent outburst. He had truly gone over the deep end there. He got too upset. _'Now Nani probably thinks I'm a lunatic, if she didn't already', _figured Pleakley bitterly. He sighed. He didn't know what he was going to do. This was getting so far out of hand. He needed to just get over his feelings. It was obvious that Jumba had no intentions of changing his mind about their relationship. He was just going to have to learn how to deal with it. He'd have to manage to be in the same room with Jumba without freaking out.

Pleakley was about to sit up and head back into the house when he was stopped by a voice.

"Pleakley….we need to talk…" came Nani's voice. Pleakley looked up and saw Nani, Lilo, and Stitch standing on the stairs that led up the hammock, all of their expressions the same. Sad and understanding. He blinked at them, sitting up into a better position.

"We know." stated Lilo simply. Pleakley tensed and froze.

"What?" he squeaked, his antenna ramrod straight and his eye wide.

"We know about what's been happening between you and Jumba…" Nani explained, taking a step closer. Pleakley recoiled, curling up again in the hammock, staring out in front of him, past his knees. "It's okay, Pleakley. We're here for you…"

"Ih!" nodded Stitch with enthusiasm.

Lilo walked up to the hammock and gently climbed on, ignoring Nani's insistence not to and that Pleakley needs his space.

Pleakley looked up as Lilo sat next to him, practically on his lap. She gave him a side hug. "Ohana means family. And family means no one gets left behind or forgotten." She looked up at her 'Aunt' Pleakley. "We want to help you." Nani and Stitch sat down on the hard wood of the small deck that the hammock was on, listening. The hammock just swayed back and forth for several long minutes as the wind in the trees was the only thing that could be heard, added with the occasional call of a bird.

"Thank you guys" mumbled Pleakley at last. "But you're not crept out by it?"

Nani gave him a confused look. "Crept out?" she repeated. "Well, not really. We just want to help you get through this."

Pleakley seemed to perk up at this. "Really?"

"Pleakley, being….abused by someone is not something you should take lightly." began Nani. "I mean, sure, Jumba is an evil genius and all but I never would have expected him to--"

"Jumba doesn't abuse me" interrupted Pleakley.

Nani titled her head. "Pleakley, yes he does. Lilo saw the bruise on your arm. There's no reason to hide it."

Lilo grabbed her friend's arm and looked for the bruise. When she found it, she showed it to Pleakley. "See? We know Jumba did that to you."

Pleakley looking at the bruise blankly. He blinked several times at it, not understanding. It then dawned on him. He looked up at all of them and shook his head, laughing slightly. "Jumba didn't hit me!"

"He didn't?" asked all three of them at once.

Pleakley's laugh grew a bit more. "No. This bruise-- Ha. This bruise….is from that little monster right there" he said and pointed at Stitch, who's eyes widened as he stood up, completely stunned at this accusation.

"Me!?" screeched Stitch.

Pleakley shot him a hard glare. "Yeah, this morning when you tore up my closet and broke my bottle of hairspray! You were throwing things everywhere. I was chasing you around the room, remember? Well, as I was, you threw one of Jumba's books at me and it hit me on the arm" he rammed his arm out towards them. "and voila! A bruise!"

Realization seemed to dawn on them all at once. Lilo looked down at Stitch with a disgruntled look only a girl like Lilo could give. "Stitch! I've told you not to tease him!"

Stitch was too busy looking down at his feet, his hands behind his back, looking completely shameful.

Nani furrowed her brow. "So, if you're not being abused by Jumba, then why have you been so upset lately?"

Pleakley was once again being stared down by his three friends. He gulped. He wished this wasn't how they would find out, but he figured, if Jumba had taken it well, maybe they would as well. He took in a deep breath and said, "Because I'm in love with him…"

-------------------


	6. Chapter 6

Deep Inside

Chapter 6

The silence that filled the air around the four of them was stifling. It nearly suffocated Pleakley as he waited an baited breath to see how his friends would react to his confessed love. It was finally out in the open. No more secrets. The very thought of this made the little alien want to faint. He had been hoping that by the time Lilo, Stitch, and Nani had learned this, Jumba and him would have been pretty far into their relationship. But all of that seemed a blurred, forgotten fantasy now.

Pleakley looked down into his lap, fiddling with his hands.

"Love him?" spoke Lilo at last, who small voice piercing through the air.

Pleakley looked up slightly at the little girl right next to him. It was moments like this when her innocence tickled his cheeks pink. She could be so cute when she wanted to be. Pleakley nodded.

"Yes. Love…" he squeaked.

Nani pulled back a bit, having been leaning closer to him before. She crossed her arms, remaining silent and staring him down as Lilo continued to grasp what was going on.

"Well, of course you love Jumba, Pleakley! We all do!" she cried out. Stitch shook his head as he climbed up onto the hammock. He touched her arm, making her look at him and he shook his head once more. This made Lilo cock her head to one side. She looked back up at Pleakley. "That's not what you mean, is it?"

Pleakley shook his head, a frown on his face. "No. I mean, I 'love' him, love him." "I always knew there was something odd about you" remarked Nani frigidly. Pleakley flinched at her tone. "I was just never able to figure out what."

Pleakley shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, looking away. This is what he had been dreading. Lilo, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to her sister and inched herself closer to Pleakley, seemingly fascinated. "So, does that mean you guys are a couple? As in dating? You know, like Nani and David are?"

"Lilo!!" cried out a red faced Nani. "We're not going out!" "Then why do you go on dates with him!?" retorted Lilo, looking back at her sister and giving her a raspberry. Nani rasp berried her right back, having no other retort to offer.

Pleakley closed his eye, sighing. "No…"

"No? Why not!? You just told us you loved him!" demanded Lilo, turning back to her 'aunt'.

"Because he doesn't love me back" his voice was so low and so heartbroken, even Nani was taken aback. After moments of silence, he decided to continue. "That's the whole point. That's why I've been so upset lately. I finally told him and he….said no…."

None of them knew what to say to that. And Pleakley didn't allow them to think of anything as he concluded, "But its nothing. Everything is just going to stay just as it was, and we're all going to pretend it never happened…" He began to stand up from the hammock.

Lilo's mouth dropped slightly at this in shock, looking up at Pleakley as he stood.

"What!? But--! You can't do that!"

"Why not? If Jumba isn't interested, then its up to me to swallow my feelings and forget them" he replied. He looked up and met Nani's gaze, who was still watching him like a hawk.

"I should have known you were like this…" spoke up Nani just as Pleakley was about to leave. He had been about to head down the first step when she turned around and spoke to him. He froze in mid step. "All the dresses, all the make-up, all the girly hobbies…."

Pleakley sighed, his shoulder lowering. "If you don't like it, Nani, just say so…"

Nani didn't reply at first, but then said, "I don't like it."

Pleakley bit back a whimper. "Well, sorry. That's just how I am…" And with that he left, trotting down the steps and into the house.

Nani flinched when Lilo kicked her in the ankle. "Ow! Lilo!"

"Why did you say that!? You hurt his feelings!!" she cried out, outraged.

Nani just looked down at her little sister, slightly alarmed, slightly bewildered. "Lilo, baby, did you even understand all that?" she asked, kneeling down in front of Lilo and cupping her face with her hands. "Lilo, the easiest way I can tell you this is that…Pleakley is different. Weird…and…"she tried to think of a better word, but couldn't. "and……different…"

Lilo just blinked at her. "Yeah, Nani, I know. I'm not stupid."

Nani frowned a bit, but decided to ignore her little sister's attitude for now. She ran a hand through Lilo's black hair. "Sweetie, I think it would be best if we just left Pleakley alone for a little while…"

But Lilo would hear none of it. "No!" she cried out, stomping her foot to the ground. Stitch, who was still standing there, watching everything take place before him, finally moved from his spot to stand behind Lilo. "Naga!"

Nani blinked at the blue creature. "Oh, so you're taking her side, huh?" she demanded. She should have seen that coming.

"Ih!" confirmed Stitch, nodding once and crossing his arms. He was standing tall next to Lilo, the same height as her. Nani rolled her eyes. "Listen you guys, maybe if you were older, or if you understood a little more on what is going on, you wouldn't be feeling this way, but trust me, this is for the best okay. Just leave him alone."

Lilo shook her head, still not wanting to listen. "No, Nani! Pleakley is our friend and he's apart of our o'hana. I refuse to leave him on his own! He needs us right now! He would be there for us if things were the other way around!" she insisted. She glared up at her older sister, waiting for her to strike again.

But instead, Nani straightened, having been leaning forward slightly while talking to Lilo. She rolled her eyes and groaned, placing her face in the palm of her hand. "Aya. Would you just let it go, Lilo. Please.."

"No, Nani. I refuse to give up on a friend who needs me" she looked at Stitch, who blinked at her, uncrossing his arms. "It's not Pleakley who I'm going to be talking to.." She had a devious look on her face, a look which Nani had seen one too many times.

"Oh, no, missy! I know what you are thinking!" she lunged for Lilo, but was too late as Lilo jumped past her sister's leg, running down the steps and towards the house, Stitch right behind her. Nani groaned, standing straight again. "Why me?" she asked, looking up into the now starry night.

---------------

Pleakley pushed the door open the bedroom he shared with Jumba, his eye half open, cheeks flushed, and looking as though he was about to collapse. That was not how he wanted it to go. No one was supposed to know about him. No one. But then he finally spilled his heart out to Jumba, who refused him, and now the rest of the family knows because apparently he wasn't as secretive as he had hoped.

He collapsed on the bed, face first, and just laid there. He didn't know what he was going to do now. He had no idea what was going to happen. It was obvious outside that Nani was less than thrilled about the news. He knew she would have that kind of reaction. Lilo seemed pretty positive about the situation, but then again, she was very young and probably didn't know the full magnitude of what was happening.

Not that it mattered. Everything was different now. He couldn't leave even if he wanted to. Jumba and Lilo certainly wouldn't allow it. Jumba had made it quite clear that though he wasn't at all interested in a relationship with him, he did not want his one-eyed one to leave.

That in itself made Pleakley confused. If he was so insistent that they not have a relationship, why was he also so insistent that he stay? That seemed to prove that he meant something to Jumba, just….not what he wanted.

"Ahh!" cried Pleakley, suddenly realizing he needed air. His face had been in the mattress of the bed and hadn't been breathing. He panted a little, feeling pathetic. Why couldn't things just go the way he wanted them to? Why did things have to be so difficult?

-----

The next morning the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. It was Saturday, so Lilo did not have to be at school, meaning there was less to be done for Nani to do before she rushed off to work that morning.

Lilo ended up sleeping in, not getting up until after Nani had left for work. Since she had the morning shift, she had to leave early. So Lilo found herself getting her own breakfast that morning, Pleakley being no where in sight. Usually he was up even before Nani, already attempting to make breakfast. It was just as well. Lilo figured she would be able to eat real food for breakfast for once. She grabbed the cereal box from the lower shelf, just able to reach.

She was pouring herself some milk into her cereal when Jumba walked in, wearing his pajamas. He yawned largely, then looked down at Lilo. "Oh, good morning, little girl. How would you be this morning?" he asked her.

Lilo shrugged. "Alright, I guess. How about you?" she asked in a friendly way. She sat at the table, Jumba doing the same a moment later. Jumba didn't bother with breakfast, instead he picked up the morning newspaper that had been sitting on the table from where Nani had left it earlier, opening it up and starting to read it.

"Jumba, where's Pleakley?" came Lilo's voice several minutes later.

Jumba's four eyes blinked as they moved from the newspaper to the little girl sitting beside him. "Hmm? Oh, Pleakley. Hmmm, little one-eyed one is still in bed."

"In bed? Is he okay?" inquired Lilo, cornered.

"Is hard to tell. I am sure he is fine. Just needs to sleep. Spent most of night crying. I am surprised I got as much sleep as I got" replied Jumba, shaking his head and turning the page of the paper.

Lilo frowned at this news, dropping her spoon into the bowl of her cereal, ignoring it for a moment. "Wait, he was crying? Why was he crying all night?"

"I do not know. He cries over many things" was Jumba's gruff answer.

Lilo looked away, falling silent. She looked down at her bowl of cereal, deep in thought. It was no coincidence that the night he confesses his love of Jumba to the family, he spends most of the night crying. Lilo furrowed her brow, figuring out what to do.

"Jumba, I think I know why Pleakley was crying last night…" whispered Lilo. Though she must have said nit louder than she thought, for Jumba seemed to have heard her perfectly.

"Oh, do you?" he grinned, amusement on his face.

"Yes…" Lilo gulped, not exactly sure what this was going to do or start. "See, we kinda have found out something about Pleakley last night…" Jumba stopped reading the paper at this, turning away and looking at Lilo. "Stitch and I and now Nani, found out that…he has feelings for you. Pleakley didn't mean for us to find out, we just sort of figured it out on our own…"

There was silence between them for a while. An awkward silence. Then Jumba huffed, pushing the newspaper aside. "Hmp! Finally you silly earth people notice! That silly alien upstairs has been so obvious! I admit, I didn't truly find out until just the other day, but I always had my suspicions. He was so girly, it had to have been true!"

Lilo nodded. "Well, yeah, apparently Nani had her suspicions too, but he finally came out and told us after we went to him and talked about it. We actually thought it was something else, but then found out it wasn't." She was hoping Jumba would ask about what they had originally thought had been taking place, figuring the large alien would take offence to it.

The awkward silence fell over them once more as Lilo poked at her cereal, no longer hungry. She kept glancing at Jumba, who had gone back to his reading, kicking her legs as she tried to think of what to say next.

"Well, Jumba, Pleakley seems pretty upset about all this" she spoke at last.

"Hmm. Little one gets upset about a lot of things…" grumbled Jumba.

"I know, but I mean, this seems to really be bothering him…" continued Lilo, hoping her alien 'uncle' would see what she was talking about.

"Listen, little girl…" sighed Jumba, pushing down the paper once more so that he was looking at her. "I have already discussed this with Pleakley. He knows my answer and I am sticking to. This is no place for little girls to be getting into. Not your concern. Now, please….I now you just want what's best, but everything is under control…"

Lilo frowned sadly at this, knowing she wasn't going to get any other answer. She hung her head, no longer hungry. A moment later, movement from the doorway caught her attention, and she saw Pleakley standing there in the doorway to the kitchen in his nightshirt and three mismatched slippers. He looked heartbroken.

"Don't waste your time, Lilo. I've already tried getting through to him, but there's just nothing I can do…" he sighed dramatically. Lilo looked at him, his eye red, and noting that he looked as though he could start sobbing at any moment.

"You did get through to me and I give you my answer!" groused Jumba, giving Pleakley a side glare. Pleakley looked hurt at this glare, wrapping his arms about himself.

"But Jumba--" began Lilo.

Jumba finally stood up. "This is lovely. I am now unable to sit down to read paper without being pestered by little cries of displeasure. I give you answer. I am sorry you dislike my answer, but it is my honest answer. Now if you both don't mind, I will be reading silly earth news in the living room." With that he stormed off into the living, where they could hear him sit down at a moment later on the couch.

Pleakley and Lilo both sigh at the same time. This makes Pleakley blink as he looks up at the little girl sitting across from him at the table.

"Wait a minute…" he begins unsurely. He points a finger at Lilo. "Were jus trying to convince Jumba to…" He isn't able to finish his sentence.

Lilo smiles and nods, which makes Pleakley smile. "Don't worry, Pleakley. I'm on your side. Nani can think what she wants about you, but I don't see anything wrong with you."

Pleakley beamed with delight and just as he was about to stand up and go over to hug her, he stopped in mid-motion. "Wait, you're only saying that because….Oh, you're too little to really understand what's going on…" he mused.

"I can go into detail and prove to you what I know" offered Lilo deviously. This made Pleakley blush cherry red and shake his hands in the air.

"No, no!" he cried out in a high voice. "That won't be necessary!" He looked away.

Lilo stood from her chair and walked up to Pleakley, taking his hand. This startled him as he watched her, his eye wide. "Don't worry, Pleakley. We'll get Jumba to change his mind." She smiled up at him warmly, while all Pleakley could do was look down at her in bewilderment.

-------------

Author's Note: Oh! I am so sorry! But I finally updated this story! Oh, its been such a long time since I've worked on this! It was so hard to finish up this chapter. My apologies as to how short it is, but its all I've got right now! I've really lost touch with this story and idea since I've been working so hard on other things. I've been getting reviews and people saying they want me to update this and I did, I just wish it was better and longer. But eventually something will be happening, cause Lilo there seems to have a plan. Shame I don't know it yet. Ha!~ But maybe now this'll get my wheels going. Again, sorry it took so long for me to update. Hope you enjoyed it!


	7. Chapter 7

**Deep Inside **

**Chapter 7**

**Sunday morning started out with the sun shining with a few clouds trying to ruin the beautiful morning. Everyone was able to sleep in since it was a Sunday and Nani didn't have to go into work until later in the afternoon. **

**Pleakley was currently laying on his stomach on the couch, draped over it, wearing his little blue shirt and red bow tie. His head was hidden in the crook of his arm, which was what he was using as a pillow. His other hand draped down off the side of the couch. **

**Lilo, Nani, and Stitch were sitting at the kitchen table, eating their breakfast. Lilo was eating her favorite cereal, Chocolate Puffs, while Stitch was eating the same thing, only taking his claws and placing little corn puffs on each nail and then eating them. **

**Nani was eating her own kind of cereal and some toast as she read the newspaper. The clock on the wall announced that it was 11:24 in the morning, a time in which Nani was usually at work already. That was what Nani loved so much about Sundays. She wasn't in nearly as big of a rush. **

"**Stitch, why are you eating your Chocolate Puffs that way?" asked Nani as she turned the page of the newspaper. **

"**Ju ginji ma jangiba!" he told her, looking up at her and showing her his corn puff-filled claws. Nani made a face and went back to her reading. **

**It was then that someone knocked on the door. All three of them looked up from where they sat at the table, but Nani was the first one to react. She put down the paper and went to answer it. **

"**David!" she cried after she opened the door. David gave a small wave and a smile as he greeted Nani. **

"**How's it, Nani?" he asked her, stepping through the threshold of the house. Nani shut the door behind him, smiling. **

"**Oh, nothing much. Just finished eating breakfast" she replied cheerily. **

"**Breakfast? But its almost lunch" he pointed out, taking a few steps forward. He saw that Pleakley was lying on the couch, having not moved from his spot since he arrived a moment ago. The surfer found this odd, seeing as how Pleakley was usually animatedly cleaning the house, or at least up and about and ready to talk. **

"**Is he okay?" asked David, looking to Nani as he pointed to Pleakley on the couch. Nani gave Pleakley a quick and nervous glance before turning back to David. **

"**He's……going through a tough time right now…" she whispered, holding onto David's arm. A sad expression came over David, feeling pity for his friend. **

**The sound of the phone ringing caught both of them off guard and for a moment, Nani only stood there, acting as though she had never heard it ring before. It wasn't until she heard Lilo answer it did she come back to reality. **

**Nani spun around the corner that led into the kitchen and watched Lilo with wide eyes as she spoke. "No, this isn't Nani, this is Lilo. Her sister…..Hey, do you have any zombies at your house?" **

**Nani managed to snatch the phone away just as Lilo finished her question, glaring down at her. "Hello!! Sorry about that….she's my little sister and can a bit too open at times…." Nani gave a fake laugh. Lilo shrugged and went back to her cereal. **

**David smiled as he saw Nani on the phone, still standing where she had left him. He glanced back over to where Pleakley was still lying down and decided to walk over to him. **

"**How's it, Pleakley?" he asked, sitting on the far end of the couch, making sure not to sit on any of Pleakley's three legs. When he received no reply from the small alien, he frowned. He tentatively and gently reached over and tapped Pleakley on the shoulder. "Are you okay, brudda, brudda?" **

"**Oh…..I've been better…" Pleakley finally mumbled, though David was just barely able to understand him since his words were also muffled from the couch. **

"**I've never seen you like this before. What happened?" he asked, concerned. **

**Pleakley took in a deep breath and let it out, slowly coming out from his spot on the couch and sitting up. He stretched and made himself comfortable, before finally looking over at David. **

"**Oh…..You don't look so good…." commented David. **

**It was true. The little Plorginarian didn't look well at all. His eyes was slightly red and he looked as though he hadn't slept in days. They could both hear Nani still talking on the phone as they both glance in the direction of the kitchen. **

**David cleared his throat, which grabbed Pleakley's attention. "I might be wrong….but you look as though you're heartbroken. Is there anything I can do to help?" **

**Pleakley shook his head. "No, there isn't." He perked up slightly. "And you were right about the heartbroken thing. Niiiiice." He smiled briefly, but then frowned again. He had been impressed with David's guess. **

"**So, there is nothing I can do….? Is the girl you like just not paying any attention to you? Because, I must say, I've had my share of problems…and you tried to help me…" David offered brightly. Pleakley's small shoulders sagged slightly at his words, which David noticed. "Did I say something wrong?" **

"**No….It's just……" he stopped talking, staring down at the floor. He rubbed at his arm, debating. "Well, since everyone else knows….I might as well let you know too…" **

**David blinked, not understanding what Pleakley was getting at. "What is it?" **

**Pleakley took in a deep breath before replying. "Well…..I am heartbroken…..but it's not because of a girl…." David just blinked at him, which made Pleakley sigh and roll his eye. "I'm in love with Jumba…" **

**It took a moment for that to sink in before David cried out, "Auwe!" He blinked several times, taking a moment to let it sink in. He shook his head, but then looked back at Pleakley, who was watching him cautiously for his reaction. "You're sure?" **

**Pleakley had a bland look on his face. "Never been more certain of anything in my life…" **

**David nodded, thinking things over. "Well, it's good that you found someone you love. I mean, Jumba was not my first thought for you, but its good!" He smiled warmly. **

**Pleakley just stared at David in awe, having not expected such a response from him. "You mean….You mean you're okay with it?" **

"**Why not? He makes you happy, no? I'm not one to judge…." was David's answer. **

**Pleakley smiled at his response. "Thanks."**

**David was about to reply, when Nani walked back into the room, now off the phone. "Sorry about that David I had to answer it. Would you like some lemonade?"**

**David looked over at Nani, still sitting at the edge of the couch, a sad expression on his face. Nani blinked at him and it then dawned on her what had happened while she was on the phone. "Oh, he told you, huh?" she wrung her hands together, not sure of what to do next. **

"**Yeah…." sighed David, glancing over at Pleakley, who looked as though he wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment. "It is a shame, no? That our little friend has to be so sad…" **

**Nani nodded, agreeing. She knew she hadn't taken the news well when Pleakley had originally told them, but now, seeing what was happening to their friend, she felt remorse and did wish that there was something that she could do. **

"**Just leave it guys, there is nothing we can do…" whispered Pleakley after a moment. **

"**That's not true" piped up Lilo's voice from the entrance to the kitchen. All three of them looked over to see Lilo and Stitch standing in the doorway next to each other, looking confident. **

"**And why do you say that, Lilo?" asked Nani. **

"**Because Stitch and I have a fool proof plan!" she announced happily. **

"**Ih!" agreed Stitch with enthusiasm. **

**-------**

**Working of hours on end on your latest of experiment had a tendency to make one sour and achy after a while. Which was why Jumba had no choice but to get up and walk away from his work after several hours of doing so non-stop. He was reluctant to, but in the back of his mind he knew that whenever he did return back to it, he would be relaxed and ready to start fresh. **

**The large alien walked out into the front room of the house, poking his head about, curious as to where everyone was. It was at this moment that his ears picked up the sounds of Lilo saying something outside. And another second later he heard Nani and David's voice as well. Curious, he decided to go outside to see what all the fuss was about. **

**Just as he was heading down the porch steps, Nani, Lilo, Stitch, and David were making their way up them. Jumba met them half way, his face abashed at the sight before him. All of them looked sad and depressed and he could tell Lilo was trying to hide her tears. **

"**Whatever is the matter!?" Jumba demanded, worried, in his deep Russian accent. **

**Nani looked up, seeming to be startled at his appearance and question and clamed herself a bit but wiping away a tear from her own eyes. "Oh! Jumba….I'm so sorry you missed it.." **

**All four of Jumba's eyes blinked at her, utterly confused. "I am sorry. But what exactly did I miss?" **

**Lilo reached up and pulled at Nani's shorts, looking almost desperate to her sister. "He doesn't know yet, Nani! It happened so fast! We didn't have the chance to tell him!" she wailed. Stitch took her small hand and had her release Nani then gave her a side hug. **

**Jumba, now completely spooked and worried, frowned. "What did I miss?" **

**David pushed past Jumba, going on up to the house. "I'll go in and make us some hot chocolate" he offered, giving Jumba a sympathetic look, which didn't make the large alien feel any better. Jumba turned to Nani, in hopes of more information. **

"**Umm…..Jumba….Pleakley….." she paused, trying the best way to put things into words. Jumba's face was horror-stricken. 'Something happened to Pleakley!?' **

"**Pleakley went home" she finally said. **

**Jumba tilted his head to one side, not sure if he had heard right. **

"**Home? But his home is here with us" he stated. **

**Nani shook his head. "Listen, Jumba….He told us…about his feelings for you."**

**Jumba felt a dead weight in his chest at these words, not believing what he was hearing. "What?" **

"**He told us…." Nani wiped away more tears. "He told us about how much he liked you and how you had said 'no' to him. He was heartbroken and….well, we tried to convince him that everything was going to be okay….And that we would work things out, but he wouldn't listen. Then…in a crying fit…he called his mother. She came…and…" she pointed down to the driveway. "And she came and picked him up. He…packed his bags and went home. He couldn't stand being here anymore. Not if it meant he couldn't…. be with you…. So he went home…back to his…home planet.." **

"**Sorry, Jumba. We would have told you but he was in such a hurry and his mom was already here waiting for him. In the rush of saying goodbye…I guess…..We're sorry Jumba" apologized a sniffling Lilo. **

**Jumba just stared at them, not sure what to think. "You mean? He just left?" **

**Nani nodded. "Sorry, Jumba. But he thought it was better this way. We tried telling him we could help him and we had ideas to make him feel better, but he wouldn't listen." **

**Jumba felt numb. He didn't know what to think. Everything had been just fine a few minutes ago. He knew he shouldn't have left his lab. But then again, he just would have found out later instead of now. He looked up into the bright blue sky, being able to picture the Plorginarian ship take Pleakley away. When he had told Pleakley that they couldn't be together, he had no idea that his little one would go to such drastic measures. Sure, Pleakley had mentioned go home to live with his mother, but Jumba never once thought he would go through with it. **

**He felt Nani pat him comfortingly on the shoulder as she took Lilo and Stitch up into the house, leaving him there. It was then, on the porch, that Jumba had never felt so alone since he came to Earth. **

**----**

**Lilo was escorted by Stitch up the elevator and into her room, sniffling at the loss of her friend. Once the elevator made it up to her room and the door opened, however, her sad expression disappeared and she quickly dried her tears. Stitch let go of her, waiting for her next move. **

"**It worked!" she beamed at Stitch. **

"**En jingsa bee!" he exclaimed along with her. "Success!" **

"**It worked?" squeaked a voice from the corner of her room. Pleakley stepped out from the shadows of her room, tentatively playing with his fingers, appearing nervous. **

**Lilo ran up to him and gave him a hug, which was returned. When she let go, she looked up at him. "You bet it worked! Poor Jumba is out there, realizing that you left because of him, and now he's going to realize just how much he cared about you!"**

**Pleakley nodded, smiling, but it soon faded. "But what if he really doesn't have feelings for me? Then what will I do?"**

**Lilo shook her head. " I doubt that'll be the case. And if it is, we'll worry about it when the time comes!" she beamed, refusing to let anything spoil they're victory. **

**Pleakley sighed, smiling with contentment. He sat down on Lilo's bunk bed. In the corner, sat his suitcases of all of his belongings. "Thank you, Lilo…Stitch….for letting me stay up here in your room…and invading your space." He said this meekly. **

**Lilo shrugged it off. "Nah, its okay. You're cool. I would only let cool people **

**into my room. And besides, now I can finally say I have an alien sleeping in my room!" **

**She paused. "Except Stitch" she pointed to the blue alien, who had pulled something out of his ear and flicked it away. "They just think he's my dog.." **

**Pleakley smiled broadly at this. He just wished that all of this would be worth it and that Jumba would really figure out his true feelings for the other alien. **

**Author's Note: Hello! I know it had been ages since I have updated! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this fic! I've just been really busy and frankly, not really in the mood, you know? But, I was able to get this chapter up for those of you who have been waiting patiently for me to update. ****J Thank you! **


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